She's Adopted
by fluffykitty12
Summary: Tony Stark was Iron Man- Billionare, Playboy, Philanthropist. After a chance encounter with a 12-year old girl with ambition, tragedy and fate bring them together. With no idea how to be a father, can Tony find his place? After all she's been through, will 12-year old Amy finally find someone to call Dad? Warning- some language.
1. Chance Meeting

**Yes, I've gone to the darkside- I've been writing Marvel Fanfics. This fic is about how life would be if Tony managed to have a daughter. It may be OOC, I'm trying to write Tont as he always is- careless, irresponsible, and badass, with a heart of gold. I'll gladly tske constructive criticism, however flames make me hulk out! Please review, if you don't like it respect that I simply enjoy writing for my own pleasure and don't be rude. Thanks and god bless!**

CHAPTER 1

She opened the box as she stood at the table, grinning.

"This is a model ionizing glove- adapted from Iron Man's."

The judges looked at it skeptically. "Does it work?" the oldest of the few asked.

She nodded. "It does. I made it in the school science lab. If you'll direct your attention to the sheet metal to your right..." She slid her hand into the metal-like glove. It wasn't exactly like Iron man's, of course- it was just the scaffolding. Her flesh was clearly visible through the gaps between the metal poles, it looked almost like an arm brace- except it had the glowing ionizing reactor in the palm and wires. She flipped the breaker and it hummed ot life. She grinned.

"This is the ionizing glove." She lifted her arm, palm facing the target, and flipped the other breaker, providing the power flow to the main output source. It glowed white, charging up. She waited until her arm was practically vibrating from the energy of it all, and hit the button.

The output of raw power came, the flash of light. And then the blinding pain and screams before everything went black.

* * *

"Tony- we need you."

Tony looked up, surprised, from where he'd been tinkering with a possible new device for his suit.

Fury was on his computer monitor, staring at him through his one good eye.

"A mission?" he asked hopefully. He wouldn't mind that. Sure, Pepper would worry, but she didn't have to know...

"No. A twelve year old girl managed to replicate the ionizing glove from the Iron Man suit."

He sat, staring, before he grinned. "You're joking, right?"

Fury glared at him through his one good eye.

"All right, all right. The kid couldn't have done a good job, though..."

"Oh, she did. Blew a hole through the wall ahead of her, and the force threw her back through the wall behind her. She's lucky to be alive."

"What?" Tony gaped.

"Just meet me at the location." Fury ordered, before the screen went black.

Natalie entered, just then, clipboard in hand. "Your jet is waiting."

"Right..." he stood, still wondering how on earth a thirteen year old girl had managed to replicate the glove.

He spent his six hour flight to London pouring over the sketches the police had found in the girl's room. Pictures of him from the expo, glove lit up, about to fire. Complex equations, sketches... And from what he could tell, it would actually work.

His plane touched down and he met Fury.

"You see the sketches?" Fury asked.

Tony nodded, staying silent.

"Well?" Fury asked. "What do you think?"

"I'll need to talk to the girl to be sure." Tony said simply.

Fury nodded, and they entered the hospital. From there, he led Tony into the hospital room.

Tony let out a breath, shocked. The girl was in bed, an IV in her arm. Her ribs were wrapped, bandaged, and there were stitches in the back of her head. Her right arm was in a green cast.

There was an oxygen mask on her face, and she was what looked to be peacefully asleep.

Tony's eyes widened, though, and his brow furrowed. She was a child...

"She's lucky she doesn't have spinal damage." Nick said quietly.

Tony nodded. She could've died... The name on her wristband was Amy. Amy Khan. Well, she was clearly more advanced than most children her age...

He noticed the ionizing glove next to her and stared, looking down at it. It was rough, but it resembled one of his own prototypes...

It was smaller, made to fit her hand, and he gently undid the latch, opening it up. The battery, the wiring, it was a simple device, but the way she'd routed the power, it worked. She could've made it more efficient, definitely, but for a kid, it was exceptional.

"What do you think?" Nick asked quietly.

"She did it." Tony said. "It would've worked, if she'd had the rest of the iron man suit- part of the purpose of the metal legs is to brace it against the kick back from the glove. That was the only thing she didn't factor in."

Nick nodded, impressed. But they were presented with an entirely new problem, then.

"If she can build one, who else can?"

Just then the girl moaned from where she'd been lying on the bed. Her eyelids fluttered, then opened, revealing glassy green eyes, which drifted lazily around the room. She groped the oxygen mask for a minute, before yanking it off, wincing and forcing herself up on one elbow.

She blinked sluggishly- she was in the hospital. That much she could tell.

"Did you build this?" Tony asked, holding up the glove. She slowly turned to face him, looking blankly at it for a moment, eyes cloudy, before she nodded. She looked at him, wiping a hand across her bleary eyes. She was doped up on pain killers, but she licked her dry lips in an attempt to moisten them before speaking.

"D-did it work?" she croaked.

Tony grinned, feeling a strange sense of camaraderie with her. "Yeah, kid, it worked."

Just then, a nurse entered. "She's just been taken off sedation, Mr. Stark. I'm afraid you'll have to come back in an hour, when she's more lucid."

"Right." Tony was still smiling, and Fury glowered at him as they walked out.

"Quit smiling, Stark." He barked. "This kid replicated one of your weapons and almost got herself killed. If she can replicate it, who's to say others can't? Stark! I said stop smiling!"

Tony stopped walking and turned to him. "Fine. Here's how I see it, then. No one could replicate the glove without intense study and a triple core lithium battery. Those are incredibly hard to find, I'm still not entirely sure how she got her hands on one. Not to mention it needs a liquid nitrogen cooling system to keep it operational- meaning that, if the kid HAD managed to get the proper bracing so the recoil didn't throw her through a wall, she wouldn't be able to shoot it more than once without it overheating and possibly blowing her arm off. Someone would need to crack the entire code and build a complete replica of the suit in order to have the proper cooling system. And no one can do that without us seeing where all these resources are being shipped and us putting the pieces together. Happy?"

"No." Fury growled. "The press is going to jump all over this, and there might be another senate hearing on how Iron Man should be strictly reserved for government operatives."

"I'll tell them what I told you." Tony assured him. "Or, Stark industries might make a big announcement tonight that totally trumps this. Maybe Kim Kardashian will get a restraining order or something." He pressed a button on his Bluetooth. "Hey, Natalie. Tell them to prep the jet again. Oh, have French fries or something, too. Something a kid would like. Tony out."

Nick was staring at him, bug-eyed. "You're taking her on your jet?"

"Why not?" Tony said, shrugging. "Hospitals are too depressing. Besides, you wanted me to talk to her..."

"You're going to need her parents' permission to do that. Unless you want to face kidnapping charges."

"Hey- it isn't kidnapping if she says she wants to go."


	2. Copyright

**Wow- surprised this has already gotten so many views. Thanks so much for everything so far, and please review!**

She was pretty sure she was dead. She had to be- she woke up in the hospital, thought she was talking to Tony Stark, finally felt the sedation wearing off, and then a red-head had asked her if she wanted to ride in Tony Stark's jet. Yes, she was almost certainly dead.

Not to mention she felt like death- head pounding, slightly fuzzy from painkillers, arm throbbing slightly, and overall feeling like she'd been hit by a train. It certainly felt like death.

She looked around. It was huge in here- Luxury leather seats sat in the middle compartment, four of them, to be exact, with a table between them. Lush blue carpet was underfoot, and the sunlight that streamed through the windows almost blinded her for a minute, before she looked to the red-head, uncertain.

Sure, she'd been on luxury planes before. Her parents were in the US Embassy, that involved tons of travel- but this was TONY STARK'S jet.

Natasha led the girl in quietly. She was mainly working for shield nowdays, but she technically had to give her two weeks before she could leave her job as Tony's secretary.

Natasha nodded to her. "Take a seat. Mr. Stark will be with you in a few minutes."

And with that, she was gone. She hesitantly walked over to the chairs, choosing one before sitting down, resisting the urge to fidget. She felt like she was in elementary school again, waiting for the principal to come in and yell at her.

She noticed a fake plant and wondered how they kept it from sliding all over when the plane took off and landed, but figured there were more important things she should be thinking about right now. Like the fact that Tony Stark was probably going to have her sent to Juvie.

Just then, he entered, a basket of fries in hand.

"Hey." He had a mouthful of fries as well, she realized, and he sat down across from her, sliding the basket across to her.

She stared, unsure. Of course she'd studied Stark's work in depth, seen him at press conferences, laughed at his jokes, but she'd reproduced one of his signature, deadly weapons. Could he really be this... easygoing?

"Oh, right. No ketchup." Tony slid a bottle of ketchup across the table as well, still chewing on the fries in his mouth. "Go ahead. Try 'em. They're really good."

She bit into one hesitantly. He was right. They were good. But why the hell was he giving her fries? Had he drugged them or something?

"So you know-" he waved a fry in the air, setting his elbow on the table and pointing it at her. "you violated my copyright. Not cool."

She couldn't help it. She laughed. "Seriously? You're upset about your copyright? Shouldn't you be worried about other people reproducing the weapons of your suit? Like me?"

"No." Tony said calmly, meeting her bright green eyes with his own calm brown ones. "Because you're one of the few to do it. All the others had access to high-tech labs- it's easy to monitor where all the parts are going. I can safely assume someone is trying to replicate my suit when I see they've ordered the parts. You're the first person I've met who could MacGyver this up." As he spoke, he set the glove she'd constructed on the table.

"Where'd you get the triple-core lithium battery?" he asked seriously.

"Internet." she responded, equally as solemn.

They both smiled slightly.

"How long did it take you to build?"

"Five months, three explosions, and a lot of band aids."

He had to smile a little more at that.

"Well, congrats. You did it. In fact, you even concerned some of my friends in high places. That takes a lot."

She nodded, looking at him as though she was waiting for something.

"Waiting for me to tell you it's too dangerous to do? That you're insane or destined to become a terrorist? That you could've been killed?" he asked, eyes twinkling slightly.

She nodded almost imperceptibly, gaze never wavering from his own.

"Well, I'm not. I will say this, though." He held up the notebook containing her sketches. "You could've routed the power more efficiently. Don't let these fall into the wrong hands." he slid it across the table to her, and she quickly flipped through it. It'd taken months to do, but thankfully all her work was still there.

She looked up at him, obviously confused. "Wait. So, you aren't going to yell at me or send me to juvie?"

"No." Tony smiled, eyes still shining. "Why? Want me to?"

"No..." she still studied him carefully, unsure what to think of him.

His gaze turned serious again. "Oh- one last thing. The bracing in the suit is what protects me from the recoil of the ionizing glove. So don't try to shoot that again. And you're going to need a liquid nitrogen cooling system for it, as well, or else it overheats and blows your arm off. So, you should probably send me your design before you test it out." he tossed a flash drive to her, and she instinctively caught it.

"That's got my contact information for you. Call anytime- I'm an insomniac, anyways." he stood, getting ready to go. The plane had never left the ground, she realized- he'd just wanted it as a private place to talk.

He paused in the doorway. "By the way- don't worry about the copyright."


	3. Tradgedy

**I LOVE YOU ALL! Might have something to do with the fact I had a 32 oz pepsi last night and am an unmedicated 14 year old with ADD, but SCREW IT! I still love you all! Please review!**

He walked easily out of the jet to find Fury was waiting for him. "You interrogated her?" he asked.

"No. We had a conversation. She won't be testing anything else."

Fury fell into step beside him. "So you've made it clear that if she tries to re-create your weapons again, she'll be turned over to SHEILD's custody before being tried and sent to Juvie?"

"That's a little harsh, Fury. I handled it." Tony said, not wanting to disclose to much about what'd gone down.

"I'm gonna trust you on this one." Fury said simply, studying Tony skeptically with his one good eye.

"Good. It's taken care of."

* * *

There was one month of no word from her, before the next email came. He found himself staring at detailed sketches of leg braces. For a minute, he was wondering if she was going into medical technology. Then he realized that titanium braces like this were meant to brace her against the recoil from the gloves, and he had to smile.

He edited them slightly, before sending the new sketches back with his reply.

He wanted to praise her, but didn't. The kid probably had enough people telling her she was smart, and if she got too overconfident, she just might blow herself through another wall. Instead, he sent her the specs and his feedback, wishing her luck. He never heard back.

He lost track of her after that, since he had Pepper to keep track of, had to finish off the Mandrin, and had to get his heart fixed. He also had things to tinker with, and the rare anxiety attacks about New York to deal with.

It was six months later when he turned on the TV and saw the news- a US embassy attacked in the Middle East.

He was there, along with the rest of the SHIELD agents deployed- including Nick Fury.

But there was nothing- nothing to do, nothing to save, no survivors. All they could do was wait for the fire to burn itself out.

That was when she ran up. Tony noticed her instantly, though he didn't recognize her at first. The cast was gone from her arm, she only had some minor scaring... And there was a look of pure terror on her face.

"Mom? Dad?" she whispered the words, falling to her knees in the dirt and simply staring at the carnage numbly, the light of the fire reflecting in her tear-filled eyes.

"How did she break the perimeter?" Fury asked, looking at her uncertainly. Clearly he didn't remember her. But then again, he and SHIELD were trying to save the world constantly, so he couldn't really fault the man for forgetting her. It was kind of strange that even after all that'd happened since he'd ladt seen her, he still did.

Tony was already walking towards her, oblivious to the fact that Fury and Coulson, who'd actually survived his stabbing, were asking him what he was doing.

Instead, he made his way towards her until he was crouched in front of her, looking down at her sadly. She didn't look up, and all he could see was the top of her head- the chestnut hair he remembered- and tears falling onto the dirt from her bowed head.

"Kid?" he asked quietly. She didn't look up, and he realized how emotionless his voice must've sounded from within the suit- it was filtered out by a speaker, after all, and it must've sounded inhuman...

His mask retracted, revealing the face of Tony Stark, billionaire philanthropist, instead.

"Kid?" he repeated. She still didn't look up, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

She looked so... fragile, kneeling here, almost like she'd been in the hospital bed all those months ago. But in the hospital, she'd been on sedatives. Now, she was just... broken.

He gingerly reached out a gloved hand, metal fingers reaching under her chin. At first she flinched at his touch, and he realized the metal must've been cold. But he tilted her chin up anyways, and she looked up at him, eyes filled with unfathomable pain. He'd buried his parents, of course, but he'd been an adult when they'd died. Here she was, twelve, orphaned, in some Middle-Eastern country.

She took in a choking breath, staring at him with those tear-filled eyes. Soot from the fire had started to settle on her face, and the clean tracks of skin made the fact she was crying even more evident.

"It's gonna be okay." he didn't know why he'd said it- clearly her entire world was falling apart. But he'd needed to say SOMETHING, and, surprisingly, he was as certain of his words as he'd sounded. The kid clearly needed SOMEONE who gave a damn about her in the world, and if all else failed, it'd be him.

She blinked at him before throwing her arms around him. She no longer cared that his suit was made of cold metal, but she buried her face in his armor and cried...

And he felt awkward. Coulson and Fury were already staring at him, since, to be honest, he was in no way the comforting type. He awkwardly patted her back and just let her cry herself out, until she was exhausted, asleep, against him.

He shifted her into his arms, walking towards a waiting agent who took her from him.

"Take her to the refugee center until we can find out who she is." Fury ordered.

"Belay that. STARK Industries has a lab conducting studies a few miles from here with living quarters- I want her placed there."

Fury looked at him, clearly annoyed. "We have no idea who she is, Stark..."

"Oh don't we, now." Tony asked, eyes narrowing. "How soon you forget, Nick. Her name is Amy- Amy Khan. She's twelve and she's the one who managed to duplicate my ionizing glove prototype. And I take it, by the way she was acting, that her parents worked here in the embassy and were just killed. As I said, I want her placed in the living quarters of STARK Industries. Now."

His tone left no room for argument, and the agent turned and left with her, leaving Tony to look at the wreckage quietly.

"I take it you kept contact with her after you discovered her progress with the glove?" Fury asked quietly.

Tony shook his head. "No. She emailed me some sketches, once, I gave her my input... that was it." he was silent for a moment, just looking at the wreckage. Finally, he spoke. "If her next of kin can't be found, I want her. Jarvis, notify Pepper I'll be staying here for a few days."

"You're kidding." Nick said, staring at Tony like he'd grown a third arm.

"No, I'm not." Tony said simply, turning away. "Sure the country is politically unstable, but she's here. I want to talk to her once she manages to get it together, figure out where she wants to go. She should have a choice about her future."

"Legally, she has no choice." Natasha said simply. "Besides, news about this is blowing up online- they have several American families already interested in adopting her."

Tony glared at them. He didn't like the option of just shipping her off to who-knows-where with the promise of an American family. She deserved to at least have a choice, he figured, about her future...

Seeing her tonight, on her knees, sobbing her eyes out as she watched the wreckage burn... It'd made him realize she was fragile. She was still a kid, however gifted she was. And he wanted to protect her.

He looked over at the fire, still burning, disgusted with himself. He was the goddamn Iron Man, and he couldn't even manage to save one person tonight...

He felt sick, then. He didn't want to be here, didn't want to stare at the burning wreckage that was his failure...

Natalie exchanged glances with Nick, slightly surprised. Silence wasn't like Tony, and neither was brooding... And then he was gone.

Phil sighed. Everyone understood why he'd left- he felt helpless- they all had. And it was rough, seeing a child crying for their parents, who they hadn't been able to save. But it was part of the job, he knew- Tony would get used to it. At least, that was what he hoped.


	4. Bad to Worse

**Next chapter! I really hope you guys like it, and please review! I love constructive criticism.**

He woke up in the living quarters of his lab. For a moment he was confused. Then the events of last night hit him like a ton of bricks. He kept seeing her face, the broken, terrified face of a child…

Apparently the agents had decided to deliver Amy to the refugee center instead of here, since Jarvis informed him she'd never arrived.

And so he was left to stare at the ceiling and contemplate his failure.

"There was nothing you could do, Sir." Jarvis said. Though he was mainly artificial intelligence, Jarvis was normally a good enough moral compass for him. But not this time.

"Tell that to Amy." Was all he said before he stood, stretching. He was still in his suit- he'd ditched the helmet, however, and he sighed.

He flicked on the TV, watching the news. He couldn't understand a word that was being said, but he saw the pictures. Nothing about Amy.

"Jarvis- I want details on where the refugee center is located."

"Are you sure that's wise, sir?"

For once, Jarvis's words mad him reconsider. The girl had just lost her parents because he'd failed to get there in time…. Seeing him again would probably make it worse. Like everyone at SHIELD had said, she was better off without him….

"Has Pepper called?" he asked, suddenly desperate for a distraction….

"As a matter of fact, she has. I informed her you were resting, but she's anxious to see you…."

"Tell her I'll be in New York in an hour." And he was gone.

* * *

She sat in the back of the truck, huddled in the back corner. It was like a U-Haul, the back had been pulled down. It was dim and bumpy here, and she'd long since run out of tears to shed.

She'd slumped over every now and then, managed to get an hour or so of sleep before she woke up screaming for her now dead parents….

She supposed she should be more concerned, since as soon as she'd gotten to the refugee center, or what she assumed was the center, they'd loaded her onto this truck.

But she couldn't bring herself to really care. Her mother and father- the only parents she'd ever had- were dead. So as far as she was concerned, whatever was happening to her now could wait. Besides, they were probably transporting her to a secure location- she was the daughter of two US ambassadors who'd just been killed, they'd probably send in some escort to withdraw her from the country later….

She'd been in more dangerous situations, when transport outside of an unstable country had been FAR worse….

The truck went over a bump, jostling her painfully. Her head slammed into the metal side of the truck, and colors burst before her eyes. She ended up sprawled on the cold metal floor. She tasted blood and an involuntary shudder ran through her.

She couldn't wait to get away from this hell of a country that'd taken her parents from her….

It was all so fresh, like an open wound that she was just staring at, too shocked to tend. No- this was what shock was, just letting it bleed.

Had it hurt? Had they burned to death in that hell of inferno, screaming? Watched their flesh melt away from their bones like wax? She hoped it'd been quick, hoped that maybe an explosion had knocked them unconscious so they hadn't been alive when they died….

It was morbid to think about, but she couldn't stop. She was exhausted and tired, and she gave into the nagging of sleep, not caring about the nightmares that were sure to plague her. She simply let the murky water of sleep pull her under.

She woke up to yelling in some language she couldn't understand. Two bearded men were arguing while more men, holding assault rifles, stood guard and watched.

She knew the alarm bells were going off in her head- these men DEFINITELY weren't American insurgents to take her back to the states.

But even that natural warning system was muffled by grief- she felt listless, everything around her was just background noise to the grief that was raging through her….

She allowed her eyes to fall closed again. Maybe if she slept, she'd die in her sleep.

But it was too late for that, since a soldier had noticed her. He spoke to her, but she chose to ignore him, since she couldn't understand it.

The next thing she knew, there was a boot in her ribs. Her eyes flew open, and she instinctively curled into the fetal position, struggling to breathe….

The man smiled. All of them were looking at her, she realized, and one of the bearded men stepped forward.

"Amy. Welcome back to the land of the living." His voice had a thick accent, and she opened her eyes to stare at him. She took in his features- dark beard, eyebrows, deep brown eyes, and short but muscular in build….

Finally, she spoke. "Did you get the assholes who killed my parents?"

The man laughed. "So you speak. They're a different organization, I'm afraid, and they're never caught…."

"Great. When the hell do I get to go back to the States?"

The man flashed her a patronizing smile.

"Clearly you don't understand, Ms. Khan. We AREN'T the government. We're your… employers, you could say. You do what we ask of you, and you are allowed to leave alive. If not…."

And then it clicked. They were terrorists.

She supposed she should've been afraid, but every emotion was dulled by grief. The only thing she felt was rage.

"Who killed my parents?" she demanded. "You're a terrorist, you must have some idea. I want fucking answers!" she sprang to her feet with strength she didn't know she had, and instantly every gun in the room was trained on her.

And then a fist collided with her face and she was on the ground, spitting blood.

The bearded man crouched before her calmly, flexing the hand he'd struck her with.

"I'm afraid that isn't how things work, Amy. You aren't in a position to ask questions. You will do what we ask, or you'll be punished. I don't expect you to fully comprehend this yet, since you're no doubt an emotional wreck. You'll come to understand, of course. Tomorrow morning you begin work."

He signaled to his men, who each seized her by the arm and dragged her down a passageway, throwing her into a room.

She landed flat on her face and forced herself up on one elbow, wiping her bloody mouth.

Her emotions were still muffled, but she knew enough to know she was in a pretty shitty situation.

She felt a twinge of fear, for once- her first normal emotion in what seemed like days, but in reality had only been twelve hours or so.

They wanted her for a reason, and she knew why. She traced the scar on her forearm, left from her experiment with the ionizing glove.

They wanted her to build weapons.

And the worst part was, she wasn't sure if she could. She might be able to work out the suit dynamics, but it might take longer than they wanted- she wasn't Tony Stark- they'd probably think she was stalling and kill her, even if she did try and help them. Tony Stark had trusted her- helped her, even, to learn what she had. It'd be betraying him to tell them this.

Not to mention the weapons would be used to kill civilians- that was the thought that hardened her resolve. She wasn't going to let these bastards make more weapons and more orphans.

But what choice did she have? They'd kill her if she didn't, unless she was fucking brilliant and managed to attract someone's attention, like Iron Man's. She looked at the dust to her right. She'd sketch everything she possibly could, think of some way out of this.

So either way, she was going to die. If she refused, she'd be killed. If she helped them... she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

So death was imminent. Fucking wonderful. But at that moment, in her greif-stricken, exhausted mind, one thing clicked- she was taking these shit bags down with her. She'd be happy to join her parents or burn in hell as long as she knew that she'd made sure these bastards couldn't make anyone else an orphan.

If there was one thing she'd learned from her meeting with Tony Stark, it was this- there were a million ways to make something blow up in your face.


	5. Rescue

**This chapter actually gets pretty intense at some points- you guys aren't gonna like this, but I might not update every day, just because i have other fics that need work as well. Still, I loce you guys for reading this and helping me, and please review!**

She spent hours sketching the next day. The bearded man was no doubt watching her through the cameras, and she only stopped every now and then to eat whatever soggy mess they claimed was food.

She was allowed to sleep, at least, what she thought were four hours. She scratched tallies into the rock wall of the cell, where she was out of the camera's sight.

The first day, the muscular man- the leader, she assumed, and the one who'd struck her yesterday- cane in to look over her shoulder, looking pleased, before he left.

These bastards wanted weapons from her- and she'd start with the signature pieces, the one she was best at. The ionizing glove.

Still, though- the lack of sleep was wearing her down. She'd stumble around for the first hour or two of the day, and some jerk- apparently a sadist- whi was watching her via the security cameras, would slap her and kick her, muttering curses until she was most certainly awake.

She'd started sketching, and soon she was constructing. She remembered what Tony had told her about the power supply, and the mechanism overheating and blowing her arm off if she tried to shoot it more than once.

She was hoping to do that, this time. She'd put more power into it, to make the explosion larger scale….

Days blended together. She had all day to work, however, and she found that with all the hours, the work went faster than it had the first time. It took her three weeks, from what she'd been told.

She was done, finally, and three soldiers escorted her and her creation to the test sight, a rocky outcropping in the dessert.

She saw the targets in the distance.

The bearded man was smiling appreciatively, and she tried not to look nervous.

He spoke quietly to his men, and one of them strapped the glove onto her, while the other worked to properly fasten on the leg braces.

She knew she was meant to test it first, so they'd know she hadn't sabotaged it.

She swallowed- her mouth was suddenly dry. If this didn't work, and the extra power she'd forced into the glove blew it up on the first blast, she'd die. But she supposed it was a better fate than making weapons for these assholes.

She lifted her arm, flipping the breaker. The machinery hummed to life, and she was aware everyone was watching her intently.

The men had all stepped behind the rocky outcropping for cover, incase this all went to hell….

Her arm was vibrating with the power, no, shaking. It was harder to hold steady than the first time, when it'd blown her through the wall….

She just hoped that the leg braces held.

She flipped the final switch, and in a second it shot. The force of the recoil slammed the back of her thighs into the leg braces and she went back about a foot in the sand, but the target exploded in a ball of flames….

And the men were cheering. She felt a sense of relief and accomplishment- she hadn't blown her arm off. But when the next bastard tried this thing….

Her knees felt weak, but the braces kept her steady.

The bearded man nodded to who could only be his top soldier, and she found herself being stripped of the glove. They'd re-sized her leg braces, of course, but the glove was adjustable, and the man strapped it on.

It was then she noticed the crates of ammo nearby. They clearly used this as a practice range, as well, and she suddenly felt nauseas.

The glove was going to explode, and possibly the ammo, and all these men were going to die….

But as quickly as the moment of fear and regret had come, it was gone. These were terrorists, hell-bent on creating more orphans and killing innocents. They deserved what was about to happen.

The men had all come out from behind the outcropping, thinking it was safe. They all wanted to be close now, and watch their comrade try out their newest tool of destruction….

And she was practically forgotten. A guard stood beside her, of course, but she wasn't restrained, thankfully.

He flipped the first breaker. The glove once again hummed to life, and she felt the adrenalin building.

She saw the man reach for the final switch to release the power and dove behind the rock, heart racing….

And then there was the deafening blast, followed by the screams of confusion and a succession of blasts as the ammo crates exploded.

She pressed herself against the rocky outcropping, trying to make herself as small as possibly as a rush of hot air hit her.

A blast of fire tore past her cheek and she felt the flesh burn. She screamed, but it was lost in the cries of pain and surprise and other blasts….

And then the deafening silence, and the ringing in her ears. She was falling, she could swear she was falling, and she tasted something metallic, somehow coming to the cloudy realization it was blood... And then, mercifully, everything went black.

* * *

"Might I suggest taking a break, Sir? You've been working without cease for seven hours."

"No. The terrorist group that killed Amy's parents is still at large…." His fingers were flying across the holographic screen. HE figured the least he could do for her was find the bastards who'd killed her parents and make sure they were eradicated.

He'd tried to find Amy, but adoption documents were confidential, and he hadn't been able to find anything n her, even after he'd hacked the system. HE figured the government was keeping her location and adoptive family a secret, since she'd been the daughter of two ambassadors….

"Sir." Jarvis spoke suddenly.

"What?" Tony asked, annoyed at yet another interruption.

"There's been explosion in the Sahara desert just outside Mali detected by satillite."

Instantly, Tony was alert. "How far from the embassy?"

"Approximately 300 miles, Sir."

"Coordinates. Now."

He was already moving, letting his suit be put on him.

A moment later he was gone, on the uppermost level of stark tower, he was jetting through the New York skyline, towards what he hoped were the bastards who'd killed a child's parents….

It was two hours later when he touched down, looking at the carnage. Charred bodies, men had died on the rocks, the force of the blast sending them into the sharp points and skewering them.

The sand was red with dried blood and ash.

It was eerily silent, almost like someone had managed to bomb them out before he had the chance….

"I'm picking up a heartbeat, Sir." Jarvis informed him.

Instantly he had his arm up, the pistol that was built into the wrist raised.

"Where?"

"Located behind the rock. The heart rate is faint, suggestive of an unconscious person…."

Tony said nothing, keeping his wrist raised as he rounded the rock. He could imagine a terrorist had modt likely dove for cover- the only one to make it, probably. But then he saw her... His breath caught in his throat at what he saw.

Amy was lying in a heap on the sand, covered in ash and sand.

Instantly the gun built into his wrist retracted, and his mask was up. He fell to his knees beside her, feeling terror and shock run through him. How the hell had she gotten here?

"Amy. Amy, can you hear me, kid?"

She moaned quietly, and he rolled her over onto her back, eyes anxiously scanning her for injuries. There were some nasty cuts and bruises, as well as the glistening red skin indicative of a burn on her cheek, but nothing life-threatening….

He just gaped for a minute, shocked. Finally, he found his voice.

"Jarvis. Transmit to Stark towers- I want Bruce there with the med bay prepped for an emergency. Understood?"

"Perfectly, Sir."

He looked down to see her eyes had opened, revealing, once again, glassy blue orbs. She was clearly out of it.

"Tony?" she asked, voice barely above a whisper.

"Yeah, it's me, kid. Listen, it's gonna be okay, everything is gonna be fine…."

Her tongue darted out over her cracked and bleeding lips in a vain attempt to moisten them. Tony suddenly wished he had something, anything to give her to drink….

"Tony…."

"Don't try and talk. I'm gonna get you back to New York, there's a doctor waiting…."

"I killed them, Tony." She said quietly.

"You what?" suddenly a reading popped up on his screen. She had an elevated body temperature of around 102.

"Listen, we can talk later, I promise…." She needed medical attention NOW.

"I... I rigged the glove to explode. Put in a 6,000 volt battery and no cooling system…. Blew them all to hell."

The news shocked him. He'd never expected Amy to be capable of such destruction, but he could worry about that later.

He shifted her into his arms and stood.

"It's alright, kid. You had to. We'll talk about this, I promise, after we get you patched up…."

"And you know what the scariest thing is?" she asked hoarsely. Before he could respond, she was speaking again. "I don't even feel sorry."

Her eyes fell closed, then, her head lolling against the metal of his chest plate.

He could see by her vitals that she was unconscious again, and he tried to pretend he wasn't shaken to the core by what she said as he took off.

It was slow going- he had to navigate the air with only his feet and one hand as thrusters, while he used his pother arm to manage to hold onto her.

She stayed unconscious during the entire flight back to New York, giving him time to think.

She'd somehow fallen into the hands of terrorists. That much he could gather. They'd tried to force her to reproduce his weapons, and she'd sabotaged it so it killed them….

It was messed up. She'd been adopted, he'd thought, by an American family….

Clearly he'd been wrong.

He approached the rooftop of Stark Towers, cutting the thrusters and touching down to find not only Pepper and Bruce, but Coulson, Steve, Barton, and Romanoff.

But he couldn't bother with them right now.

Thankfully, they had a gurney waiting, and he laid Amy on it before turning to Bruce.

"Help her. Now."

Bruce hardly batted an eye, though he initially looked confused, before he and Barton were wheeling her inside….

He went anxiously after her, but was stopped when Coulson put a hand on his shoulder.

"Who is she?"

"Amy Khan. The girl you told me was adopted by an American family. I found her at a terrorist camp today." The venom was obvious in his voice as he gave each SHIELD member a scathing glare, brown eyes blazing. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to be there."

He started towards inside, but Pepper grabbed his arm. "What happened out there?"

Tony's eyes flashed dangerously and his jaw clenched. "I'll debrief later." Was all he said.

"No. You'll tell us now." Natasha said calmly. It was a statement, not a question, and Tony turned to her, frustrated.

"It's important, Tony." Coulson said, trying to implore the man.

"They wanted her to build weapons. She did- but she sabotaged them to explode and ended up blowing everything up. She was the only survivor."

Pepper gasped, hand going to her mouth, and Phil and Natasha exchanged shocked glances. The pieces were coming together now as to why Tony was so upset….

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go make sure she's still breathing." And he stormed away.


	6. No Idea

**Next chapter! I seriously am LOVING all the support you guys are giving, I totally LOVE writing this for you guys! Some of you have been asking wether or not Thor will be in this- the answer is, of course, YES! I LOVE Thor, and I'm planning on having Thor come within the next six or seven chapter or so, so hang in their, Thor fans!**

"How is she?" Tony asked, brown eyes worried as Banner and Barton exited the room.

"She's stable. Feverish and dehydrated, though. Nasty burn on her face, it's going to hurt like hell for the next few days, but nothing life threatening."

"Can I see her?"

Bruce exchanged uncertain glances with Clint.

"She's still unconscious…."

"Never mind. I'm not asking anymore." And with that Tony walked past them into the room.

She was out cold on the bed, IV in her arm, eyes serenely closed. There was a large gauze bandage secured to her cheek over the burn, and the clip on her finger giving vitals, but she was all in one piece….

"What's going on here?" Nick walked in then, one good eyes glowering at everyone.

He noticed Tony, then, a confused look crossing his face.

"Stark. You sent out an SOS, asked the med bay be prepped for emergency…." It was clear their leader hadn't expected him to be standing.

"I did. For her." Tony said, gaze flickering over to Amy once again.

Fury looked down at her for a moment before recognition dawned on his face. "Is she…?"

"Yeah." Tony said coldly, eyes daring Fury to challenge him.

"Tell me what happened. Now."

Tony crossed his arms. "Remember how SHIELD assured me she was adopted by an American family? I found her today, half dead, in a terrorist camp just outside of Mali." Tony's gaze hardened to a glare.

"Tony?" he turned around to see Pepper standing in the doorway. "Can we talk for a second?"

"Sure." He turned to look over at Fury. "Do you mind?" Fury reluctantly left them alone. It was amazing how stable Tony suddenly felt, completely in control... Pepper could do that to him.

Pepper shut the door behind him.

"You're adopting her?"

"Maybe." Tony shot a glance over at her. "I figured I'd wait until she was awake, talk with her for awhile. I want her to be happy- she deserves it, after all the hell she's been through."

Pepper nodded, still looking uncertain. "I don't even know her name…."

"It's Amy. Amy Khan. She's smart- really smart- I met her after she managed to duplicate my ionizing glove and blew herself through a wall."

Pepper's eyes widened slightly, and Tony smiled. "She was fine, just forgot to add the variable of the recoil into the equation. I think you'll like her."

"And why's that?" Pepper asked, a playful smile tugging at her lips.

Tony smiled as well, taking her hand and leaning close to her. "Because she's a lot like me."

* * *

The first thing she was aware of was a steady beeping. The second was that she felt like she'd been hit by a truck. She waited for her vision to come into focus, finding she was in a bed, with an IV drip in her arm….

And it all came rushing back. The terrorists, the rigging, the explosion… Tony.

She looked around. The billionaire was nowhere to be found, and she felt, yet again, scared. Tony was the only one she really knew, the only one she really trusted….

She fumbled with the IV for a moment, before deftly sliding it out from under her skin, ignoring the bead of blood that appeared. She pulled the clip that was monitoring her pulse rate off, and swung her legs over the side of the bed, forcing herself to her feet.

She was sore and exhausted, not to mention shaky, but she needed answers about what'd happened after she'd blacked out….

She stumbled out of the room, leaning on the wall and catching her breath. She hoped she didn't look as shitty as she felt….

"She should be adopted by civilians."

She heard someone scoff. "Yeah. Because that worked out so well last time." She recognized the voice as Tony's.

"And you're parent material? No offense, Tony, but let's face it- you gave terrorists your home address. I don't think you're the best candidate."

"I never said I'd adopt her. I want to know what she wants- she deserves to choose her own future…."

She found herself stumbling towards the sound of voices.

"The sooner she gets into civilian hands, the better. This is no life for a kid…." She saw a muscular man with sandy blonde hair sitting around a glass table speaking to Tony and several others, before she put a name on the face. He was Captain America….

Of course. She was at Stark Towers, this was Avenger's HQ.

She leaned against the doorway, content to listen to how this was going to play out. She had to admit, she wasn't a big fan of any of the Avengers- they'd ordered she go to the refugee center, where she'd been sold out to the terrorists….

Tony caught sight of her, then, quickly getting to his feet.

"You shouldn't be up…."

"I want answers."

Tony stopped- he'd clearly been ready to shepherd her back to bed, and she crossed her arms.

"On a scale of one to ten, how screwed am I?"

"Zero. You were captured by terrorists. I don't see how that's a crime." Tony said calmly, meeting her gaze. He knew she wasn't going to go back to the med bay until she knew what happened.

She scoffed. "Yeah, and rigging a weapon to blow them all to hell isn't considered murder on WHAT planet?"

Fury turned to Tony, one good eye narrowed. "She did what?"

"I ID'd the corpses, Nick. They were all wanted terrorists, all had a record of killing civilians. The US Government wanted them- dead."

"Oh, so that makes it okay, I guess." She said sarcastically, and Tony looked at her, surprised to see her eyes were glassy with tears.

"Listen, you didn't have a choice, kid. It was them or civilians. I know it sucks, but I had to do the same thing…."

"She's a target, isn't she?" Steve spoke up suddenly. His heart was going out to the girl, of course, but he could suddenly see why terrorists had captured her in the first place. "Who knows what happens if we place her with civilians? From what I know about terrorists, they won't let her kill their men and live."

Tony sighed. "That is another problem, yes…."

And then she did something that shocked them all. She laughed. It was a cold laugh, as well, calculated, not at all the light, silvery laugh a child should have.

"Let them come. What do I have left to lose? Parents are dead, don't have anyone else but my crazy grandpa…. Might as well go out with a bang, take a few of them down with me."

Everyone stared for a moment, shocked that she'd talk about her own death so easily.

"Don't talk like that." Tony said sternly.

She shrugged, trying not to wince. Damn, she was bruised. "My life. That means I get to end it how I want."

"We both know you don't mean that." Tony said evenly.

"You don't know a thing about me, Tony. You met me once- and that was before I was captured by those assholes. I've got the blood of six men on my hands now. I've changed."

"We'll talk about this later." Tony said firmly. "Get back to the med bay."

"Tony…."

But the avengers were already staring at her like she was insane. Her being here wasn't helping him make his case any.

"No. Medbay, now." He pointed in the general direction of the med bay, but as soon as he raised his arm, she reacted, springing herself into a corner, hands up in an attempt to cover her face.

They could hear her heavy breathing, realizing she'd instinctively went to cover herself from the blows she'd thiught she was going to be dealt...

And Steve felt another part of his heart go out to her. It was obvious she'd been struck while she was in captivity.

Her breathing was ragged, then, and everyone stared at her, shocked, for a moment. She let out a shaky sounding breath, peering out from under her hands nervously. Slowly, she let her hands drop, realizing Tony wasn't going to hit her.

Tony, as well as the rest of the room, was looking at her with a mixture of concern and pity on their faces.

Tony turned to the others. "We'll continue this discussion later."

He motioned with his head towards the door, looking at Amy. "C'mon."

She shakily walked beside him outside the room, back to the med bay. Tony nodded towards the bed, and she sat down on it. Her eyes were still wide, she was still being possessed by adrenalin. He realized she was shaking and felt another pang. She'd clearly been through hell.

He pulled up a chair beside her bed and sat down. "What do you want to talk about?"

She swallowed, pink tongue darting out to try and moisten her chapped lips.

"I- gimme a second, please?" it was the first time she'd actually asked for something instead of demanding it, and he nodded, realizing just how deep her wounds were, both mentally and physically.

She took another breath, her hands clenched into fists, and she finally spoke. "Am I insane?"

"No. Don't ever let anyone tell you that, kid..."

"I just killed six people and I... I don't even feel sorry."

"Neither did I, the first time I did it. I wish they hadn't put me in that situation where I had to, but it was the only option..."

She looked up at him, blue eyes suddenly filled with tears again. "Who killed my parents?"

He sighed. "A terrorist organization opperating in Lybia. They're incredibly hard to track, but I'm doing my best. I promise you they'll be caught."

She nodded again, before looking at him carefully. "What's gonna happen to me now?"

Her eyes were filled with insecurities, then, he could see the fear pratically bleeding from them...

"Whatever you want. You can stay here, if you want to, or you can look for adoptive parents..."

"I want to stay." she said firmly. Her eyes were still pained, but she looked certain of this, at least.

Tony nodded. "I honestly think you'll be safest here- since let's face it, terrorist groups aren't very found of you right now. I mean, what place is safer than a tower full of heroes?"

She gave him a wane smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. It was clear her sense of humor hadn't come back yet, and he felt a pang, reminded if everything that'd been stolen from her.

"Okay. So, I'll go file the papers. You want anything? Fast food, video games, coloring books?" he tried. He didn't know what twelve-year olds liked, so he just threw in whatever popped into his mind.

She shook her head, though she still smiled appreciatively. "Thanks, but no. I... thanks."

"No problem." Tony still watched her, concerned, as he stood up. "You need anything, just say it. Jarvis will tell me, right buddy?" Tony asked, looking up at the ceiling.

"Of course, Sir." Jarvis replied.

And Tony quietly left her, knowing it'd be beat for her to get some rest.

He got to work- thankfully, his father had been a man with connections- and he got in touch with a major lawyer he'd known. It wasn't until he'd filed the papers that he just sat and stared at the wall, realizing what he'd just done.

He didn't regret anything, of course, she was being guaranteed a safe life by him adopting her. He was looking forward to having her around, actually, someone to talk to and have help out with his projects...

His laptop dinged. The lawyer had gotten back to him, and he opened it carefully, slightly worried.

The man had pulled a few strings and emailed it to a friend of his in San Francisco who happened to be a judge and had finalized it

He smiled for a breif moment, before he realized it. She was legally his, now, he had a daughter... And he had no idea what he was doing.


	7. Not Fuzzy

**Sorry ut's been si long- I've been working on the development of the plot here. This chapter has more slightly fatherly Tony! I think he's coming around! Oh, and Steve is a loyal friend here, as well. Please review!**

"You can't be serious." Fury deadpanned when Tony entered the room holding a folder of adoption papers.

"It's been finalized, thanks to an old friend of my father's." Tony said simply, sliding it across the table.

Fury slid it back, looking upset. "Everything has changed, now. This affects you reliability and liability as an Avenger."

Tony shrugged. "Fine. Go ahead and kick me out. But you can't take the suit, and then you'll have to find a new HQ since this is my tower, and I'll still be kicking ass as Iron Man."

"How do we even know we can trust this kid? I went through a couple psycology courses, and from the behavior I observed, she's a narcisist." Bruce remarked.

Tony glared at him. "She is not a narcissist. She's a kid who just went through absolute hell trying to cope- and trust me, she'll be fine."

"More importantly, if she's living in Stark towers, isn't she in danger? I mean, you do have a workshop filled with potential weapons that you wear." Natasha pointed out.

"She knows how to handle herself." Tony said confidently. "She'll be fine."

"And if you die?" Steve asked quietly. "I don't want to bring it up, Tony, but on every mission there's a chance we won't come back. You almost didn't, during New York... If you die, then what happens to her?"

Tony sighed. "If that happens, I want you guys and Pepper to take care of her. I know it's a lot to ask..."

"You can't ask us to do this." Natasha said, looking uncertain. "I mean- that's HUGE. You can't expect us to be able to raise her..."

"If it comes to that, I'll do it." Steve spoke up, looking over at Tony calmly.

Tony's face relaxed slightly. "I- thanks..." he said quietly, for once appearing humble. Having someone like Steve with strong morals to raise her if need be was a weight off his shoulders.

Steve shrugged as everyone glared at him. "Hey- what are friends for? Tony would do the same if it were any of us."

Tony sighed when he realized the others weren't budging. "You don't have to like it, but she's here- so deal with it."

She was allowed outside of the medbay after a day or so, and she started down the hallway, finding a redhead different from the one who had escorted her onto the jet all those weeks ago standing there.

"Hi Amy. I'm Pepper." she smiled. "Tony wanted me to show you around."

She nodded, falling into step beside the woman. Now that she was actually concious, she could take in the awesomeness that was Stark towers. It was amazing.

Pepper led her to the elevator, pushing the top button.

"Every Avenger had a floor here, sort of like their own apartment." Pepper explained. "Tony and I are on the top floor, and you are as well."

Amy nodded, studying things, amazed at how fast the elevator was.

The doors slid open a moment later, revealing the penthouse with the large sectional and glass coffee table.

"So this is the living room, that's our room." she motioned to the door leading into what she could only assume was an amazing room.

"The kitchen is up here-" there was an incredibly modern kitchen, with stainless-steel appliances and a beautiful island.

"Tony wasn't sure what you liked, so he left it white. He figured we'd paint it once you figured out what color you wanted."

Pepper opened the door, and she stepped inside, staring. There was the same luxurious blue carpet as their had been in the jet, and a four-poster bed facing the one wall that had huge windows.

There was a desk with a laptop flashing the stark industries logo as a screen saver, on a beautiful curved glass-top desk...

"It has holographic screens as well, he just wanted to give you something to carry around..."

She walked past Pepper, shocked, looking around. The walls were white, but the bedding was beautiful, covered with a bright sky blue comforter and a dark, beautifully carved dark wood headboard and canopy...

"It's awesome..."

Pepper smiled. "Yeah. There's an ipod in the nightstand, as well, and a bunch of notebooks, since Tony said you liked to sketch."

She nodded, just taking everything in.

"If you need anything, just ask. I think you're going to like it here." Pepper said, brown eyes twinkling. She was secretly excited to have another girl around- maybe she could help her convince Tony to stop some of his more anti-social tendencies...

"I will also be happy to assist you in anything you require, Miss." Jarvis piped up, and Amy smiled.

"Thank you, JARVIS. Always did wonder what you were like- I read about you in TIME magazine..."

"I'm flattered." Jarvis said, and Amy's smile widened. So JARVIS had a bit of an attitude, as well.

She was going to like it here.

* * *

Tony sighed, walking in late. News if Amy's adoption was blowing up, people were calling him insane, saying he was endangering a child. but the way he saw it, he was safer in STARK Towers, protected by Iron Man, than she'd ever be in civilian hands.

Even so, his decision was contraversial. Not to mention that he wanted to keep her at arms length- if she got too attatched and something were to happen to him...

He sighed, heading for the elevator.

"Welcome back, Sir. I assume the press conference you attended went well?" Jarvis inquired.

Tony sighed. "As well as it could've gone. Where's Amy?"

The elevator let him out on the top floor. Sure, he wasn't going to get close to the girl, but he couldn't help but feel slightly curious about how she'd spent her first day here.

"She is currently in her room, asleep, Sir. She spent the past seven hours discovering how to use the holographic screens accompaning her laptop and adapting the interface to her preferences."

Tony smiled slightly. The depressed, scared girl from earlier had seemed to have faded away with the knowledge she'd been adopted by Tony Stark.

He noticed she'd left the door to her room and peered inside, curious. She was curled up in the center of the floor beside the bed, several notebooks open around her filled with sketches.

He coldn't help but smile a little more at that. He'd done that several times as a child, even more as a teenager.

He sighed, shifting her into his arms, and stopped when he heard her whimper quietly...

"Shh." was all he said, quietly setting her on the bed and pulling a blanket over her. He studied the gauze Bruce had taped over iver her burn, gently peeling it back to study the wound. She made a noise of discomfort, and he quietly let the gauze go.

She seemed comfortable, and she was resting.

So he left, convincing himself he didn't feel slightly fuzzy knowing that she was legally his daughter, now. Not at all fuzzy.


	8. In which Steve is Concerned

**The feels! I just finished writing this baby, and I love it! Mainly Amy/Steve conversation, but also some Amy/Tony and a little bit of Clint and Natasha. Hope you like and please review! :)**

Tony spent the next day sitting on the couch, flipping throug the TV channels. News of his adoption of Amy had, as expected, blown up- people were calling him everything from misguided to insane.

"What purpose does a child serve in his life? What, is she supposed to get him Brownie points? He gave terrorists his HOME ADRESS, for christ's sake- he should be the LAST person allowed to adopt a child!"

"Jerk." Amy flopped down on the couch beside him, looking at the woman who was tirading during the local news hour with disgust.

"Sanity is overrated, anyways." Tony said mildly, changing the channel. "So- you had breakfast yet?"

She shook her head.

"Jarvis- get this kid some high fructose corn syrup." Tony ordered, smiling slightly.

"Of course, Sir."

A moment later, an R2D2 sized robot with a metal tray on its head rolled over, with a jug of milk and a box of Cocoa Pebbles balanced on it.

She gave him a wane smile, quietly pouring a bowl, sloshing in some milk, before starting to eat.

"So- you want to do anything today?" Tony asked.

She shook her head- she'd rather wander around. She'd spent all of yesterday in her room exploring the interfaces on her computer, but today- she wanted to be alone. Maybe explore, walk around a little...

"I'll be in the lab, on the bottom floor. Just come and get me if you need anything."

She nodded, and he stood, stretching quietly before ruffling her hair. "Hang in their, kid." he mumbled quietly, and she nodded tiredly before turning back to her bowl of ceral.

She started by walking around the top floor- she peered into every door and closet, looking around carefully. Pepper had said that every floor functioned as a sort of apartment for each Avenger, and she didn't want to intrude, but hell, she was curious...

"Jarvis, who's here?" she asked, finishing off her bowl of ceral and setting it in the sink.

"Currently only Tony and you, miss. Agents Clint and Romanoff are currently deployed to parts unlnown on a mission, Dr. Banner is currently at a library acquiriing reading materials, and Mr. Rogers is out on his morning run."

"Good." she said calmly, opting to take the stairs instead of the elevator. She didn't know why she was doing this- it was stupid, really- edging on crossing the oine between curious and creepy. But she didn't really care. She'd do anything just to distract herself from that cold, echoing vault of greif within...

She could've just asked Jarvis who's floor she was on- but she didn't- it'd be more distracting if she tried to figure it out herself.

There was a modern white couch and glass coffee table, but the book shelf of medical textbooks let her know this was most likely Dr. Banner's place. She walked around, idly running her fingers over the furniture.

She wandered into the bedroom, looking around. Their were very few personal touches, but there was a desk with test tubes and bottled chemicals that interested her slightly.

She reached out to touch one, but stopped herself. She didn't want to mess up any expiriments going on, and she was here to look around- not to be a total snoop. She found a vast array of guns, knives, and swords on the floor Clint shared with Natasha, and made a quiet note to come here if she ever needed something sharp.

She went down to the last floor that housed an Avenger, which had to be Steve.

It was- nice. Homely, almost. Steve must've chosen his own furniture, since it was clearly 1940s. There was a dark green leather sofa with wooden legs, framed in the same dark wood. Deep maroon curtains framed every window. There was a small wooden coffee table with a doyle on it, and she almost snickered- it was- odd, to say the least, to have a super-soldier who had doyles on every table. She supposed it was a forties thing, though.

Of course, the kitchen was modern as she walked by it-Tony probably wasn't a fan of having ice-boxes around. There was a bathroom and a TV, of course, but she noticed the doors here were of heavy oak, not the normal, automatic metal doors throughout the rest of the tower. And she noticed that one of those doors was ajar...

She stepped quietly inside, looking around. It was a bedroom, and sunlight streamed through the window, landing on the bed. It had the iron frame typical to the forties, and was made neatly, military style, with a navy blue comforter.

There was a night table on either side of the bed, one with a lamp and another with framed pictures.

A scrawny boy with dirty blonde hair... her eyes widened. No. That couldn't be Cap... But it was. He stood next to a much taller, uniformed man, smiling proudly... That picture ws confusing.

She chose to disregard the first picture for now, instead quietly picking up the second to examine it... It was of the Captain- he was with a woman. They were both in their officer's clothes, him with his dirty blonde hair slicked neatly back and her with her wavy, shoulder-length curls similar in color to her intelligent brown eyes.

So he'd had a girl. She smiled for a moment, before she realized with a sinking sense of reality that the woman in the picture was most likely dead, Captain America had been frozen for, what, seventy years?

She felt cold, suddenly, and guilty- she shouldn't be here. Captain America was none of her business...

Suddenly she heard the elevator ding as it opened. She froze for a split second, feeling warm dread spread throughout her. She was going to be in so much trouble... She could hear footsteps approaching, and she thought fast, diving under the bed and praying she wouldn't be seen.

She saw the boots- that was all she could see from under here. She forced herself to take shallow, quiet breaths...

His boots approached the bed, and he seemed to be looking around. She prayed silently that he wouldn't notice anything and she could just manage to somehow get out of here...

"Hello there." his voice was soft, gentle, even, but she hadn't been expecting him to bend down and started, ended up banging her head against the top of the bed. Colors flashed before here eyes for a moment.

"Are you alright?"

That was the first thing she heard once the ringing in her ears died down. She looked over at him- his brown eyes were concerned, and he didn't look at all angry.

"I- yeah. I'm good." she forced her voice not to betray the fear she still felt. Shew as in a compromised position, and for a second she was back in the hands of that terrorist group, getting the shit beaten out of her...

"Can you get out from under there?" his tone hadn't changed, but it was really his eyes that made her trust him. Earnest, kind, and concerned...

"Yeah- I can." she quietly wormed her way out from under the bed, managing to stagger to her feet as quickly as possible. There was no reason to be afraid, why was she afraid?

"Are you alright?" he asked again, noticing she looked terrified.

She swallowed. "Yeah. I'm good, I'm fine..." she was anything but fine.

Steve could tell this as well as he took a seat on his bed. "Would you mind telling me why you were hiding under my bed?"

She looked away nervously.

"I just want to know. I'm not mad." He moved himself towards the head of the bed, giving her room to sit down towards the foot of the bed. She slowly did, still not meeting his eyes.

He noticed her hands were shaking. "Really- I'm not mad. But if you found me under your bed, wouldn't you want to know the story behind it?" he asked, smiling slightly.

She smiled as well, looking up. "I... I was bored. I wanted a distraction so I started wandering around the tower... I ended up here. And I heard you coming, and I figured you'd be mad, so I hid."

Steve nodded quietly, as though pondering this information. Hewaited for her to say something more, to try and engage him in some kind of conversation, but she didn't. Awkward silence ensued. Finally, he spoke. "If you ever need to talk- I'm always here."

She stood, thankful he was ending the not-conversation. "Thanks." was all she said, dull, exhausted eyes returning as she headed for the elevator.

Steve stared after her long after she was gone, feeling a pang for her, Poor kid. She'd just lost her parents, it was clear she was lonely and trying to do anything possible to distract herself... If only she'd open up to someone.

* * *

Clint and Natasha had returned from their mission later that day, sucessful albeit more tires than usual. Bruce had been working in the lab, and Steve had been reading. Nevertheless, they all gathered in Tony's penthouse to just talk about the day and possible new threats.

"So, I take it you and Legolas had fun today." Tony said, grinning at the annoyed look Clint gave him at the use of his nickname.

Natasha shrugged, sipping on her glass if brandy quietly. "You could say so..."

The news played quietly in the background.

"My bacteria colonies all died today." Bruce said, looking dejected.

"I'm... sorry." Tony said, not sure what else to say.

Natasha quickly turned to Steve, hoping to distract Bruce from the... saddening... news abiut his colonies.

"What'd you do today?"

"Nothing much. I found Amy hiding under my bed, if that counts for anything." Steve said, watching the news half-heartedly.

"What was she doing under your bed?" Natasha asked, looking perplexed.

"No idea. She said she was bored and wanted a distraction, so she was walking around, and when she heard me come in i guess she was afraid I'd get mad, so she hid..."

Tony himself looked disinterested in the whole conversation, instead focusing on the news.

"Speaking of the kid, where the hell is she?" Clint asked, realizing she was nowhere to be found.

"In other news, the funeral for Edward and Mary Khan, ambassadors killed in the terroist attack at a US embassy in the middle east, will be going on tomorrow. There's been quite a bit of speculation as to wether their surviving daughter, Amy, will attend, as she's recently been adopted by Billionare playboy Tony Stark..."

There was the sound of glass shattering, and everyone whirled to find Amy standing in the doorway to the kitchen, staring at the screen. She'd had a glass of something in her hand, but now all it was was shattered pieces and a puddle on the flor before her.

"Amy..." Tony breathed quietly.

Her eyes were filled with tears and she said nothing, simply turning and running down the hallway to her room, choking out for Jarvis to lock the doors behind her.

Everyone exchanged glances, concerned, but it was Tony who first spoke.

"Jarvis, send up a cleaning bot to get on that." was all he ordered, before sighing and sitting back down. No one really noticed the mealoncholy look on his face.

"That's it? You're just going to oeave her alone?" Clint asked, looking disgusted.

"I don't see what else I can do. She OBVIOUSLY wants to be alone." Tony ground out harshly, one hand tightening into a fist beside him.

"Easy for you to say, Tony. She was just roaming around the tower today, ALONE. She needs someone..." Steve said seriously.

Natasha had walked over to her door already, looking concerned. She quietly knocked on it, hearing the sounds of sobbing coming from the inside. "Amy?" she asked quietly. This brought back memories for her, a little red-head crying herself to sleep after her parents had been killed in an attack...

The sounds of crying were her only reply.

Bruce looked unsettled by the display of emotion, but he spoke. "Maybe we should listen to Tony, guys. We're probably just making it worse..."

There was the sound if glass shattering, then, and Clint jumped to his feet, going to join Natasha. "What the hell is she doing in there?" he muttered, a million worst-case scenarios running through his mind.

"You don't think she's trying to..." Steve paled at what he'd been about to say, walking over to join Natasha and Clint by her door.

"Jarvis, open the door." Clint ordered, looking at the ceiling.

"Stark override, Jarvis, don't open the door. She wants to be ALONE." Tony ground out, looking oncredibly unhappy from where he was sitting, glowering at his friends.

"Cap, think you can pry this thing open?" Natasha asked quietly.

Steve looked at it dubiously- he doubted he'd be able to find a grip on the smooth metal door, let alone pry it open...

"Leave! Just fucking leave!" Amy yelled from inside. "Tony! M-make them... make them fucking GO!" she pleaded, choking out the words between sobs.

Tony stood, finally having enough. "Everybody leave. Now."

"Tony..." Natasha said, a pained look on her face. Couldn't he see this girl needed help?

"I said now! Don't make me get the suit." he ordered emnacingly, a look they'd never seen on his face before. So they quietly left.

Tony sighed, resting his head in his hands for a moment once they were gone. The crying from inside her room had quieted considerably, though he barely heard it when she spoke...

"A-are they gone, Tony?" she managed to get out.

"Yeah, they left." his voice was soft, an well, in a no doubt vain attemot to comfort her, He had no idea what the hell he was doing here, truthfully...

The door to her room slid open, revealing her tear-stained face. He wasn't exoecting her to hug him, though, but she did, burying her face in his chest and shaking slightly from quiet sobs.

"Thank you." she managed, voice barely above a whispered.

"No problem..." he said, surprised. And just as swiftly as she'd come out of her room, she stepped back in, the doors sliding quietly closed behind her.

Tony stared, shocked. Maybe he had done the right thing, afterall...

**THE FEELS, MAN! Please review! **


	9. Some Supervision Required

**I am SO sorry I didn't update! But in my defense, this chapter was so freaking huge, so... enjoy!**

* * *

She hated it. She hated all the attention, alk the people asking wether or not she was all right, all the concerned glances they'd given her. She WASN'T okay. Her parents had been murdered a few weeks ago, and today they were being buried. But that didn't mean these assholes had the right to pity her, much less ASK if she was okay.

Tony watched her carefully that next morning. The Avengers had assembled in his kitchen for breakfast, no doubt to try and give her some semblance of a 'family'.

She took one look at everyone in the kitchen and turned around, heading back towards her room and let the door close itself behind her. Natasha had even gone so far as to leave a journal outside the girl's door, hoping she'd write her feelings down, and maybe that would help the grieving process...

Tony sighed. "You guys really don't get it, do you?" he looked at his friends with pity. "She doesn't WANT special treatment, or people asking if she'd okay- she just wants to be left ALONE."

Steve sighed. "Maybe you're right..."

"Of course I'm right! I know this kid better than any of you do, and she just wants to chill and try and sort things out."

"What about the funeral?" Natasha asked calmly.

"She's not going. Too much press. I've got the place bugged, though- I'm getting live video feed of it here, incase she wants to watch."

Everyone nodded, not really wanting tp think about the funeral. It wasn't right, a kid this young having to bury her parents...

Slowly they finished breakfast, placing their dishes in the sink one by one and disappearing, feeling slightly helpless about the fact that they could save the world, but they couldn't help a grieving child.

* * *

"Tony. You and Amy wanna go to a movie?" Bruce asked quietly, entering the room. He pushed his glasses farther up his nose, waiting for an a response.

Tony's eyes darted over to Amy's door- the girl hadn't come out of her room since the morning. He shook his head. "Thanks, but no."

"Alright- call me if you need anything, okay?"

Tony nodded absently, and Bruce realized why when he saw what was in the TV. Two flag-draped coffins being carried out towards the burial ground...

He quietly left his friend alone, then.

Tony was watching the priest read from the bible quietly. A bunch of government officals had gathered in black, and a drizzle poured down on them all as if to set the mood...

"Sir, there's been an explosion in the workshop." Jarvis said calmly.

Tony stared for a second- that wasn't possible. He was alone in the tower, except for... He paled at the realization, running for the stairs- they'd be faster than calling an elevator, and he took them two at a time, running down to the glass that showed into his workshop and staring.

Metal shards everywhere, some smoke, something on one of his tables was burning... He punched in the code and the doors slid open, leaving him to run inside and stare around, shocked, eyes frantically searching the ground until he saw her.

She'd been thrown a few feet, byt the looks of it, she was laying on her side, not facing him, and his heart dropped when he saw her. He raced over to be beside her, frantically rolling her onto her back. She made no move to indicate she was concious, and blood coated her upper lip and trickled down her chin.

How had he not noticed she'd gotten into the lab? It was the day of her parent's funeral, afterall, and what if... what if she'd done this on PURPOSE in a desperate attempt to end her life? His heart started racing even faster then, and he frantically shook her.

"Amy! Kid, come on, wake up!" he was near frantic now, and she moaned, wincing before her eyes, to his relief, fluttered open.

She had to blink a few times before everything came into focus. Tony was leaning over her, looking incredibly anxious, she could smell smoke and metal...

"Shit." she muttered.

And Tony seized her in a bone-crushing hug. "Don't EVER do that again." he said, sounding both angry and relieved at the same time. He quietly picked her up, setting her on a workbench before grabbing a flashlight and turning it on, shining it in her eyes.

She forced herself up on her elbows, trying to sit up. "Dammit!" she swore, cursing at the harsh light, before Tony saw her pupils react and relaxed.

"You dizzy or anything?" he asked nervously.

"I-no." she managed to sit up all the way, and he noticed the ends of her hair were singed.

"Did you... did you do that on purpose?" he asked quietly.

"Do what on purpose?" she stared at him, genuinely confused.

"Make an explosion in an attempt to kill yourself?"

"What- no. I screwed up a liquid nitrogen cooling system, I guess..."

Tony grabbed a relatively clean rag from the workbench, holding it to her bleeding nose. "Lean forward." he ordered.

She complied quietly, eyes widening when she saw what a mess the lab was.

Tony recognized some of the pieces on the floor and realized she'd tested it on a drone bot- basic little robots he made for the entire purpose of testing his more dangerous things on to. He felt a pang of guilt- he should've been down here, she could've been killed...

"Show me how you wired it." Tony said calmly.

She looked surprised for a moment before she blinked, nodding. She slid off the table, grabbing a small onboard motor. "I was trying to get the cooling system right for the glove so I could shoot it more than once. I set the tubes to circulate it here, I just had this running as a pump..."

She'd started hooking up wires, but Tony quickly grabbed her hands as she was about to hook up the last wire. "It worked for a few minutes, didn't it?"

She nodded, looking surprised he knew that. "Yeah. Yeah, it did. I was about to take it off the drone and try it out when it just... exploded..."

Tony nodded. "See these thbes? Building up airpressure. It got to be too much, and combined with the nitrogen, it just... exploded. You're lucky that wasn't on your arm when it happened, or you'd have shrapnel in your face."

She nodded, looking like she was taking in the knowledge. Suddenly, her face turned to an expression of confusion. "Then- how did you run the cooling through the suit?"

Tony smiled. She was inquisitive. He liked that. "I circulate cooling throughout somewhat like this- the difference is, I have a pressure release valve that keeps everything from exploding and some pressue backflow that keeps the nitrogen from exiting via the release..." he sketched a basic grid, sliding it across the table towards her. She frowned quietly, realizing she'd never be able to use liquid nitrogen to cool the cannon without the full suit...

She looked up at him then, curious. "Got any amonium nitrate?"

Tony's brows furrowed. "You mean the stuff in those instant cold ice packs? Yeah, I might have some..." he turned to get them, smiling. He could already tell what she was planning to do eith them, and he knew it would work.

Instant coldpacks worked when the sack of water they contained burst and mixed woth the amonium nitrate, causing the rapid cooling. If she could manage to circulate it throughout the glove, it'd work as a cooling system for a time.

Amy smiled when he brought them back, grabbing a utility knife and carefully slicing open the pack, withdrawing the amonium nitrate crystals and pouring them into the tubing she'd have circulate around the glove to cool it.

He smiled as he watched her work, carefully packing in the crystals into the tube to the water pump. Water circulating around the crystals that filled the tubing and causing the cooling effect...

She'd started the water circulating around the glove, then, and she flipped the breaker, starting the charge, before turning to him.

"You think this will work?" she asked, an edge of uncertainty in her eyes.

Tony shrugged noncomitally. "Maybe. Hard to tell. Dummy, get another drone in here." Tony ordered. A moment later he'd quietly placed her model of the glove on the drone, aiming it carefully at the target. He flipped the final breaker and turned, sheilding Amy with his body as the cannon in the glove went off by pulling her close to him. They both stared at the hole in the target, and Tony grinned, while Amy was more cynical as she shook her head.

"It always works fine on the first shot. It exploded after the second one, the last time..."

"Have a little faith, kid." he said, starting the charge again. He had a pretty good idea this would work. If he'd thought there was any risk of a major explosion, he'd have sent her out of the lab...

Amy shrugged, arms crossed, wathing him anxiously as he got ready to release the second shot...

He flipped the final breaker and the shot went off. Tony watched calmly as the glove didn't overheat and stayed perfectly normal and grinned, while Amy stared, surprised.

Tony gave her a look. "I told you it wouldn't explode."

Amy nodded, brushing a singed lock of hair from her face, still looking uncertain. "The amonium nitrate won't work to cool it forever. It has to have a limited amount of shots before everything explodes..."

Tony nodded, still smiling. She was right, of course.

Amy was still looking at him, slightly frustrated, now. "So, yeah, it works, but for how long until it blows somebody's arm off!?"

Tony grinned. "Only one way to find out."

* * *

The rest of the Avengers returned from the movies, expecting the tower to be as sombre and quiet as they'd left it. Natasha was particularly disappointed- she'd been hoping to take Amy out and try and distract her from all the depressing thoughts that were no doubt running through her mind.

The movie, though it had been good, had done little to distact any of them from the thoughts of the little girl who was no doubt drowning in tears back at the tower...

An explosion made them all jump, then, and instantly they were sprinting downstairs towards Tony's workshop.

Smoke filled the air, making everything shrouded, and Steve put his fist through the glass wall, imagining the worst.

"Tony! Tony!?" Bruce was looking around frantically, afraid of finding his friend in a pool of blood- or worse.

The smoke was starting to clear, however, and they heard- laughter. Bizarre, happy laughter.

The smoke cleared away, revealing Tony's workshop tables, which had been turned on their sides to create a makeshift shield.

Tony was coughing slightly, but smiling nonetheless, as Amy laughed from where she was crouched behind the tables.

"Did you see that!? Just, pwww!" she gestured with her hands, trying but failing to immitate the collosal explosion which had been so amusing to her...

Tony smiled at her soightly, eyes alight as well. "Yeah, I saw it, kid. Told you it would last at least seven shots."

Steve was looking around at the explosion, confused, and Clint threw up his hands, walking out. "Screw it. They're both crazy." he muttered, before leaving.

But even Natasha could see the small twitch in the corners of Clint's mouth, and she knew why- Amy had been laughing.

Natasha smiled slightly, as well, and tugged Steve and Bruce out of the room, not wanting to intrude. For the first time since she'd been here, Amy was laughing- and for now, that was enough.

**REVIEW!**


	10. Harder than he thought

**I'm sorry it took so long to update! I've been having a ton of writers block recently, and this chapter may start us down a different road and may not, depending on what I decide... Please Review!**

It was knawing at her, like razors tearing apart her insides. Tony had spent a week with her, of course, in fact, he seemed eager to have her down in the lab with him each morning, and she'd enjoyed his company.

But it wasn't enough to distract her from the calls that echoed to her every nght, invading her dream. He parents weeping, begging for her to come and be with them, to come see them. It'd seemed like seeing her parents in her dreams would be a sweet release from her normal nightmares about being beaten, but it was even more distressing so that she'd wake up in a cold sweat instead of screaming like usual.

And that was the worst part- when she screamed Tony would come racing in and hold her and let her cry and sob and just BE THERE, assuring her everything was alright and that he'd go get the suit if he had to to protect her...

But these nightmares just left her gasping for breath, and Tony couldn't hear her screams, didn't know what was wrong... It was the worst kind of nightmare. Because even once she woke up, she was ALONE.

Tony had asked her if she'd wanted to go see them, of course, but she'd declined. She wanted to go alone, to be alone with them, to say her final goodbyes, and with everything only occuring a week ago the oress might be haunting the place...

But one night it was too much to bear, and she found herself clawing her way out from under the blankets and seizing her Stark Phone from her nightstand.

"Jarvis- I want my whereabouts concealed. No one is to be told where I'm going, security tapes of everything I'm doing currently erased. Understood?" she whispered, knowing the intelligent AI would pick up her voice.

"Perfectly, Miss." Jarvis assured her quietly- his volume automatically went down at night, and she quietly mapquested her destination, letting out a sigh when she saw it was nearly nine blocks away.

Nine blocks- she could suck it up and walk nine blocks. She didn't want ti take the subway, wasn't familiar with taking one in America- the only time she'd done so before was at boarding schol in London, and she didn't want to get lost.

Not to mention she felt like if she went underground she'd suffocate. She wanted to be close to the sky, so she could stare at it and know she was alive...

She pulled on a dark-colored hoodie and purple tennis shoes, finding the stairwell. Tony had one for emergencies, though he rarely used it, and she slipped down it before she was outside on the streets, liberated into the cool night air.

She trodded quietly down the sidewalk- it was incredibly cloudy tonight, and dark, but she didn't care. She glanced at the phone's screen carefully, memorizing the route before turning it off and sliding it into her pocket, Best not to flash a pricey phone like that around on the streets, at night...

It was about a half-hour's walk, and at some points a jog, when she felt she was in a rather rough neighborhood, but she eventually made it.

It'd started to rain- not the light, misty rain she was used to in London, but heavy, fat teardrops that poured from the sky. She stared att he wrought iron gates of the cemetary, suddenly feeling light she couldn't breathe. She forced herself tot ake a breath, however, before continuing to walk inside, ignoring the rain.

She walked up and down the rows of headstones, searching through the darkness and being sure to only walk between each neatly laid horizontal row, never between the stones mid-row, to show respect for the dead, like her father had taught her.

Surprisingly, she wasn't afraid to be alone in the night. The low rumble of thunder provided some comfort, and she found the stones beside one another, surrounded by flowers and American Flags...

She smiled at the stones quietly, kneeling, ignoring the fact the freshly dug graves were pratically pools of mid in the rain.

"I've missed you." she said quietly, not in the least bit surprised when her own tears began to join the rain in falling to the Earth.

"Tony Stark adopted me." she whispered, letting the wind swallow up the words. Somehow, she felt her parents could hear anyways. "He's really nice. Lets me blow stuff up and everything. I've been dreaming about you..." she sniffed, and yet another tear joined the mud around the graves.

"I miss you..."

There was a sound from the graveyard then, a snort or possibly a grunt, that startled her enough to jump to her feet.

It was dark, pouring, and in the middle of the night. The press couldn't possibly be iut here...

"Alw'ys 'anted a bitch..." the mumbled words floated across the darkness, slurring and stumbling over one another, and she reakized with horror she wasn't alone here. She had no idea where the drunk was, it was too dark for her to make him out. But he could see her...

She was debating running for the gates or staying put and trying to dial 911 on her phone when a flash of lightening came, then, and she saw him- less than ten feet away, grungy and unshaven, with glassy eyes and a grotesque smile plastered to his face...

And she forgot all reason, then, turning and sprinting for the gate. But he was surprisingly nimble for a drunk man, and she was rolling through the mud a moment later, kicking, struggling, fighting for all she was worth.

He fumbled with her, trying to get her to keep still, but she was having none of it, screaming and kicking and thrashing for all she was worth. When a sweaty hand clamped over her mouth in an attempt to silence her, she sank her teeth into his flesh, biting until she tasted warm blood and heard him screaming and even then not letting go until his grip on her had losened enough from the distracting pain for her to break free. She seized her chance, escaping his hold and rolling through the mud for a moment, panting...

She struggled to her feet then, or rather, tried to, falling right back down in the mud. The man was swearing angrily, clutching his blood-soaked hand, and she realized she needed to run, run NOW, since he was stumbling towards her again...

And then he hit the ground, landing in the mud before her, limp.

She stared, shocked, for a moment, before she made iut the form of aboy hardly older than her holding a rock standing where the man had stood. The lightening flashed, and she could see the teen had done her a favor- possibly saved her life- by knocking the drunk out.

He simply nodded to her, cool grey eyes enrapturing her for a moment.

They stood for a moment, eying one another, and she struggled to judge his intent before reaching into the pocket of her hoodie, withdrawing her Starkphone.

She quietly set it down before her- this boy had saved her. He couod consider it payment. Thunder crashed, startling her, and she was gone, running down the sidewalk like her life depended on it.

* * *

Tony stared at the clock, rubbing his eyes. He was tired and covered in gease, and had forgotten he needed sleep- he usually did when Pepper wasn't around to remind him, and she was currently in DC...

He stood, taking a moment to scrub the grease off his forearms before starting uostairs. Amy normally left the lab earlier in the evening, and he peered into her room, surprised to find her bed empty.

"Jarvis, where's Amy?"

"She requested her whereabouts not be specified to anyone, Sir."

"What?" that was news to him. Since when had she started keeping secrets?

"Amy- this isn't funny." Tony said, waiting for a moment. His heart started to beat a little faster when their was no answer. "Amy?"

There still was nothing. "Is she in the Tower, Jarvis?" he really hoped the answer was yes.

"I am not allowed to divulge that information, Sir."

"Dammit, Jarvis. Pull up the security tapes."

"I'm afraid they've been deleted, Sir."

"Hell..." Amy had thought of everything, which scared him. What could a twelve-hear old have to hide that could be so incriminating?

Still, he was starting to grt seriously worried, snd he headed downstairs to find Steve sitting on his sofa, reading _Computers for Dummies_.

He looked up when he heard Tony enter, smiling when he saw his friend, but the smile died when he saw the concerned look on Tony's face. "What's wrong?"

* * *

"So she's just... gone?" Natasha asked, grey eyes concerned.

"There's no way she just up and left." Clint said, looking bored from where he stood, arms crossed, leaning uo against the wall.

"Yeah, well I ran a scan on the entire tower, checked every heat sensor. And she'd not here." Tony said, eyes burning.

"Where would she even go?" Bruce asked quietly. They were all silent, all asking themselves the same question. Where would she go?

* * *

She was fighting through the rain, oblivious to how she was soaked ti the bone woth mud and rain. The wind tore at her very soul, her lungs burned, begging for air, and she refused to stop running until she had to slow to a jog, and then a walk, before she was finally staggering towards Stark Tower.

The doors automatically opened, she staggered through the bottom floor and to the elevator, punching the button for the penthouse and sagging against the wall.

She caught her breath on the ride up- Tony was probably still in the lab, she could slip into her room and shower, before falling into bed and just sleeping. That was what she was expecting, anyways, so she was totally unprepared for stumbling into a room full of Avengers.

Clint was the first one to notice her, a flow expelatives that made Steve cringe flying from his mouth as he stared.

"What the hell happened to you!?" he demanded, concern he didn't know he posessed taking over.

To be honest, she looked like crap- soaked to the bone and shivering, splattered eith mud and with a scratch on her cheek trailing blood down her face...

She gave Clint an unamused look through glassy eyes, electing to say nothing before stepping forward and nearly falling on her face...

Clint grabbed her before she did, though, shooting a panicked glance at Bruce- he had no idea what to do with her.

"Where were you? Who the hell did this!?" Tony was instantly stepping forward to stare at her, brushing the sopping wet hair from her face to stare at her, horror and concern mingling on his features.

"Nowhere." Amy muttered hoarsely.

"Don't lie to me!" Tony snapped. "I check your room and you're gone, it's, what 3 in the morning, and you come back like this..."

She looked up at him, seeing how upset her really was, and sighed. "I went to visit my parents." she muttered.

"I could've taken you..." Tony said, quieter, this time, realizing she'd gone to visit the graves

"I wanted to go alone." she said seriously, looking at him with appoligetic blue eyes, regretting all the worry she'd caused him.

"But you're beat to shit..." Clint said, staring.

"Yeah. I ran into a bit of trouble..." she said simply, quietly freeing herself from his steadying grasp and blinking sluggishly, exhausted.

"We'll talk about this in the morning." Tony said, still angry, still not managing to forgive her. He was relieved she was back and alright, but she'd just LEFT like a reckless child... He felt like he wanted to hug and strangle her at the same time.

"Right." Amy murmered, before stumbling down the hall into her room.

"That was a little harsh..." Bruce remarked quietly.

"What do you expect me to do!? Give her a medal or something!? She could've died! She's not just some ordinary kid anymore- if someone recognized her, they could hold her for randsom or kill her or worse! So excuse me if I'm being a little insensitive!"

Everyone stared, slightly shockded, for a moment. They hadn't seen Tony act this protective over something since the battle for New York, where he'd almost died to save everyone...

Tony soghed, running a hard through his hair, frustrated. "Thanks for trying to help me find her, guys." was all he said, before turning and heading into his room, letting the doors slide closed behind him.

This parenting thing was going to be harder than he thought.


	11. Thor

**It feels like it's been FOREVER! Sorry if this chapter is jut mainly dialogue, but it can;t all be action. For all you fangirls out their, this is the chapter where Thor makes his debut! And there's some fatherly Tony and a little bit of child-like delighted Steve in here, too. Please review!**

She'd been waiting for Tony to come and yell at her for about a half an hour, trying not to sniff. She had a slight cold, probably from being soaked last night, and she ended up just curling up on the couch and falling asleep.

Tony strode into the room, then, a stern look on his face, ready to lecture her about just how awful last night could've turned out if she hadn't managed to get away. His face softened, however, when he saw her curled up on the couch, asleep.

He sighed, sitting down beside her. "What am I going to do with you?" he muttered quietly, brushing a stray lock of chestnut hair from her face. He'd forgiven her, for course, but things could've been so much worse than just a few scratches….

Steve watched silently, trying to hide a smile, from where he sat at the breakfast bar eating cornflakes.

"How is she?" Natasha asked quietly, a concerned expression written on her face as she entered. The avengers had begun gathering for a 'family' breakfast on Tony's floor ever since Amy had come.

"She's alright, I think. Reckless, though." Tony said, eying the small scratch under her eye.

Natasha smirked. "I wonder where she gets it from." She said, and Tony rolled his eyes.

Natasha hid her smile as she watched the two of them, instead heading to the cupboards. "Lucky charms or Cocoa Pebbles?" she asked quietly. It'd always amazed her how Tony had so much junk food in it.

"I'm good, thanks." Tony said absently, just watching Amy sleep with an unreadable expression on his face.

Bruce quietly entered, then, seeing Tony's expression and smiling slightly, giving Natasha a nod of greeting as he grabbed a box of Wheaties- the only relatively adult cereal there, settling down on the breakfast bar.

Clint scrubbed a hand across his eyes sleepily, managing to look annoyed. Natasha insisting he woke up for their 'family' breakfast every morning was getting pretty damn annoying….

And Steve had been up before all of them, since apparently in the forties, people had actually woken up before ten am.

They'd settled into the comfortable morning silence like always, munching on an assortment of cereal and fruit, when Jarvis's voice broke the peaceable quiet.

"Sir, Thor has just entered the building." He announced.

Tony sighed. "Great. Let's hope he left Loki back on Asgard…."

As he spoke, Thor burst out of the elevator, as always, excited. "Greetings, friends! I have returned from Asgard!"

"Hrmm…." Clint put his head down on the breakfast bar, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to drown out the booming voice. It was _too damn early _to be this cheery.

Tony stood. "Good to see you too, Thor." He said, smiling slightly. Amy, surprisingly, hadn't woken up at the booming god's voice, and Thor looked around eagerly at his array of friends, eyes falling on Amy last. His smile faltered for a moment, before it returned, brighter than before.

"My sincerest congratulations, friend Tony!" he enveloped him in a bone crushing hug. "I did not think you the family man, but clearly I have been proven wrong. How did the lady Pepper fair?" he asked, eyes slightly concerned. Even on Asgard, childbirth was not an easy task….

Everyone exchanged a glance, then, unsure whether or not they should tell Thor she was adopted. After all, Loki had been adopted, and Thor might've developed some sort of dislike for Adoption or distrust of adopted children after what had happened….

Thor glanced at Amy's sleeping form again- he hadn't been around any midgardian children, and he looked surprised. "I see they age quickly on Midgard…."

Tony sighed. "About that, Thor- she isn't actually my daughter."

Thor looked at him for a moment, confused, clearly not understanding….

"I mean, she _is- _but not by blood. She's… she's adopted."

Thor nodded, eyes solemn. "Ah. I see. So she was abandoned."

"Not exactly…." Natasha said, looking to Steve for help. She was completely clueless as to how to explain this to Thor….

"Her parents were killed in an attack." Tony said calmly. "There was no one left to care for her, and when SHIELD attempted to send her to be raised by civilians, it… it didn't go as planned. So I adopted her."

Thor nodded solemnly. "A very honorable thing to do, friend Tony." He said calmly. "Now, may I ask where one does acquire the Pop Tarts?"

Natasha smiled, tossing Thor a box of them which he happily caught, sitting down at the breakfast bar as well. "I must say- this city is quite large. It took a night of wandering to find you."

"That explains the storm last night, then." Clint muttered, knowing Thor had probably gotten frustrated.

Steve stood from his bowl of cornflakes, quietly setting his dishes in the sink. He would've washed them, but Tony had robots to do it, and Tony preferred it apparently.

Thor was tearing happily at his pop tarts, and Bruce interrupted him quietly. "You know they taste better if you toast them, right?"

Thor looked astonished. "They can become _better!?_" Bruce quietly put a pair of pop tarts into the toaster, and Thor watched it intently. After about thirty seconds or so, however, he became frustrated. "What is this trickery!? The metal box will not return the tarts!"

"Wait a minute, Thor- it will, trust me." Steve said calmly, and Thor reluctantly agreed. A moment later, the toaster popped up. Thor curiously studied the pop tarts, finding they were warm. He stared, surprised, for a moment, before seizing one, looking amazed at how the warm filling gushed out….

Amy stirred and woke, scrubbing her eyes with the back of her hand and quietly getting to her feet, making her way to the breakfast bar and sitting down among the Avengers like she did every morning.

It was then she noticed the nearly seven foot Norse God was in the room with them, watching her uncertainly….

"Sup?" she asked, giving him a tired smile and reaching for the cereal, pouring herself a bowl. The prize fell out, and Steve looked excited- even if he was an adult, now, he never really got over that feeling of excitement when he saw the prize from the box of cereal….

Amy quietly handed it to him, pouring some milk and starting to eat quietly while Steve unwrapped the toy- a little wind-up toy monkey.

He grinned, winding up the small key and allowing the toy to walk across the table towards Thor...

"What is this sorcery?" Thor asked quietly, staring as the little toy slowly ran out of momentum and stopped walking. The god poked it carefully, looking surprised when it did nothing.

"Is it… alive?"

"Nope." Amy said, a bemused look on her face. The huge blonde was incredibly fun to watch- he clearly wore his heart on his sleeve. She could see it by the way every emotion he had showed clearly on his face, from shock to wonder to confusion….

She smiled, finishing her cereal and placing her bowl in the sink. "I'll be in the lab." She said, nodding to Tony.

Tony nodded coolly. "Remember to stand behind the blast shield."

"I will." She smiled, flashing a slightly cocky grin that reminded everyone that no matter how much they interacted with her, she'd always be Tony's child.

A few minutes later there was a small explosion, and Tony couldn't help but smile. He didn't know how he'd put up with the constant silence before she came.


	12. In which things go bad

It was a regular Sunday Morning in Avenger's Tower. Steve sat quietly in an armchair, reading a well-worn copy of the bible, with the news playing a "Money Matters" financial segment on low volume in the background.

Natasha was working quietly on her Stark Pad, Bruce was pouring over a medical textbook, and Thor was watching the TV intently, wondering how the people could fit into the box and how they'd gained such knowledge of this 'fiscal responsibility.'

Pepper was watching intently, as well, seated beside Amy on the couch. Today was one of her days off, and instead of her normal put-together appearance, she was in sweatpants and one of Tony's t-shirts.

Tony walked out of the kitchen, bearing three glasses of a golden, bubbling liquid. He grinned, handing one to Pepper and one to Amy in turn, before settling down on the couch between the two most important girls in his life, sighing with contentment.

HE caught the glare Steve was giving him and rolled his eyes. "Chill, Spangles. It's sparking grape juice."

Steve nodded, satisfied by the explanation, turning back to his bible.

_"Stark Industries has skyrocketed over the past few months- what do you say, Marlin- good long-term investment, or no?"_

_The man onscreen grinned "Absolutely good. After the Iron Man innovation, Stark is taking the company in an entirely new direction- releasing new lines of defense tech for our armies, advanced IED detectors, everything. And after adopting his successor, Amy Khan, the company had definitely has a long, prosperous future ahead of it."_

Tony sipped his grape juice nonchalantly, unaware of how Amy was staring at him, wide-eyed. After a minute or so, he finally noticed.

"What?"

"I- I'm gonna have to run Stark industries?" she said, voice shaking a little.

Tony shrugged. "Maybe. If you want to. It's all up to you, Amy- it's your life."

"But they just said…."

"You're his successor. But you can always be like Tony and find a charming, more-qualified person to get them out of all their business meetings and be CEO…." Pepper said, eying Tony.

"Did I mention you look beautiful today?" Tony asked, giving Pepper a cheesy grin.

"It's going to take more than that to make up for that drag of a meeting I was just at in Toledo." Pepper said seriously.

"Oh, don't worry- I'll pay up tonight." Tony said, a suggestive grin lighting up his features.

Steve blushed, suddenly feeling like he shouldn't be witnessing this conversation, while Thor grinned at their banter.

"Not in front of everyone!" Pepper said, indignant, and punched Tony on the shoulder.

"We interrupt this with breaking News from Boston. There's been a major catastrophe- A commercial plane has apparently crashed in the city center. Jet fuel from the failing liner began to leak, as a result numerous city blocks are now ablaze- it's estimated around a thousand people are either trapped in their homes or unable to escape the fire's path as a result. Rescue teams have begun to descend, but there is little hope of putting out the fire before it spreads…."

Everyone in the room looked up, shocked, at the footage of apartment complexes burning, people standing on roofs waving their arms, trying to get the attention of rescue helicopters….

"Oh my god…." Pepper muttered. She'd gone pale.

Steve had already closed his bible and was running towards the stairs- faster than the elevator, he figured. He needed to change. Thor was doing the same, and Natasha hurriedly stood, getting onto her communicator.

"Clint! I don't give a damn how hung over you are, we need to suit up! Now!"

Tony stood, shoving his glass of juice into Amy's free hand.

Pepper stood, looking shaky. She eyed Tony carefully- she hated it whenever he had to go out into these situations. Ever since the battle of New York…. "Be careful- okay?" she said, voice barely above a whisper.

"I will." Tony said, looking equally as mournful, before heading downstairs towards the lab, where he kept his suits in a locked bunker below….

"I love you…." Pepper whispered, but he didn't hear her, already racing downstairs to try and do what he was born to do- save lives.

BREAK

The next hour and a half was, to say the least, tense. The Avengers arrived on scene and were doing their best to put out the fire and save the civilians. That was when everything went to hell.

"We've just gotten word that New York is officially in a state of emergency. Governor Cuomo recieved a terrorist threat minutes ago from the terrorist group X-pol, and Drone strikes have been predicted in New York City. With the Avengers absent, residents are advised to remain in their homes...

Pepper's breath caught in her throat for a moment before her breathing quickened. A moment later she was curled into a ball, knees to her chest, hyperventilating.

"Oh my god. Oh my god, Tony, oh my god, what do we do!?"

"Come on!" Amy seized her by the wrist, pulling her to her feet and racing to the elevator, slamming the button for Tony's lab/workshop, emerging a moment later.

"This floor is twenty feet below ground- we'll be alright, Pepper." Amy said absently, running over to the computer terminal. Tony had briefed her on an emergency procedure, one he'd never had to use before...

She punched in the code, and a small circular door opened up. Amy found herself staring at the suit- the one Tony had replicated from before when he'd destroyed them all...

"Open." she commanded quietly.

With a hiss, the suit slowly opened, revealing a human-shaped half of armor could step into.

Pepper wiped her eyes, looking shocked. "I-what are you..."

Amy said nothing, simply seizing her by the shoulders and pushing her into the suit.

"Mode 1. Defense." she ordered calmly. She'd never forget the look of shock and fear on Pepper's face as the mask came down, as the other piece of armor slid back into place, completely incasing her in the suit.

"Amy! Amy, what are you doing!?" she demanded, anxious voice an octave higher than normal with fear.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Pepper- Tony, I... the plan. You're supposed to be protected."

"What the hell!? I can't move, I can't control it..." Pepper was forced to be still in the suit- it wouldn't respond to her moving, it was like she was in a metal coffin...

"It's in defense mode. It won't act until it detects a threat- it keeps you safe. I'm sorry, Pepper..."

"Amy! Amy where the hell are you going!?" Pepper screamed, as the suit came online, She could see Amy racing around the room anxiously, grabbing this and that...

"Answer me!" Pepper screamed, tears of both fear and terror streaming down her face.

Amy had a screw driver and one of her ionizing glove prototypes in hand, and was hurriedly screwing it shut over her arm carefully. She gave Pepper a nervous smile.

"Tony taught me a thing or two. He's busy now, so... I have to do what I can.

"You can't do this! You're going to get yourself killed!" Pepper stared at the image on the screen before her eyes. At the incredibly naïve, brave child standing before her.

Amy shrugged, finishing screwing on the one ionizing glove and moving to put on the other.

"Miss, I must advise a more reasonable course of action..." Jarvis spoke calmly, as always. Amy looked frustrated, prying open a control panel and tearing out a fistful of wires. Jarvis's voice instantly cut out, and she let out a relieved sigh. No one was going to tell her she couldn't make a difference anymore- no one was going to stop her from trying to help people.

She finished getting on the glove, and wordlessly started pulling on the rocket boots-they were just prototypes, she and Tony hadn't finished them yet, but they'd have to do...

She found a discarded helmet Tony had left and managed to wire it up to a battery- the optics came online, she could aim, possibly... And an prototype for a newer model of Cap's shield. She didn't have a chest plate, so she just had to hope the shield was as reliable as Cap said it was...

She nodded to Pepper, giving her a weak smile. "It'll be okay, Pep. I have to go..."

And she was gone.


	13. Helping Out

**This chapter has a to of Amy. I DON'T WANT TO MAKE HER A MARY SUE! Which is why she's going to be struggling throughout this, scared and not really sure what to do. She doesn't do anything major besides ordering and remotely controlling an iron man suit, and managing to track a radio signal, but she does what she can to help in the crisis, which, to me, makes her a true hero.**

**I think this is decently realistic, as well, since- Tony's paranoid. In Iron Man 3, he had a hidden bunker filled with suit. So it's not unreasonable to think he taught Amy some semblance of a contingency plan. Anyways, please review and tell me what you think!**

* * *

She stood in the penthouse of Avengers tower, staring down at the streets. They'd been crowded at first, but she'd seen people begin to run and jog, and now, the streets were more deserted than she'd ever seen them. Only two or three people stayed on the streets, the only ones brave enough to stand, staring up at the sky, waiting for the end that they'd been told was coming to fall upon them and send them into the oblivion that was death.

She sighed, resting her hand on the glass. The only thing that separated her from a thousand foot drop to the pavement below. She leaned her forehead against it. Where was Tony? God, she couldn't do this...

"Jarvis." she spoke quietly, listening to how muffled and distorted her voice sounded through the helmet. Silence was her only response. Of course it would be, though- she'd disabled Jarvis from speaking. That didn't mean he wouldn't obey every command like he was programmed to.

"I want screens pulled up of NYC airspace."

The holographic screens filled the room- at least a dozen of them, now, with sectors around them.

The phone rang to her left. "Jarvis- shut that down." she was staring intently at the screens, anxiously cycling through. "Get the mark VI ready. Order it to alert me of anything that isn't registered to be in US airspace."

Even though Jarvis didn't respond, she knew he'd obeyed. She remained there, standing, for two tense hours, studying every screen, waiting. Then the first one came. It looked almost like a small shuttle, the round top becoming a sharp edge at the bottom.

"Blow it out of the sky." she ordered calmly. She watched the speck that was no doubt the Mark VI in the distance approaching, saw the pinpoint that was the blue glow of the ionizing glove. And with a deafening blast, there were burning pieces of wreckage raining from the sky. She let out a relieved sigh- the explosives onboard with the drone had managed to blow it to pieces, with minimal aid from the mark VI.

She watched, perplexed, then, as something else approached...

It didn't look like a drone. That was what prompted her to turn on her microphone. Her voice crackled through the static.

"You have ten seconds to identify yourself before I blow you out of the sky."

And she started counting in her head. One. Two. Three. Four...

_"Tony?" _the voice responded to her transmission.

It was human. That alone wasn't enough to make her trust him. But he'd called for Tony. That was enough for her to quietly press the abort button on screen and order the Mark IV to stay stationary as the other craft approached.

She froze when she saw it. War machine.

_"Tony?"_ the voice she realized must've belonged to James Rhodes asked her father's name again, and he reached out and tapped the suit, concerned.

She flipped on her microphone again. _"No. Not Tony. This is Amy."_

_"The girl he adopted?"_

_"Yeah." _

There was a beat of silence, punctuated by the static that boasted the lack of communication, before Rhodes spoke.

_"Please tell me you aren't in the suit."_

_"No. I'm controlling it remotely. Tony's in Boston."_

_"Right. You know what you're doing? I mean, can you..."_

_"I live with Tony. I know what I'm doing."_

_"Good." _Rhodes sounded far too preoccupied, though, and she swallowed. That had too be bad.

_"Can you do me a favor- do whatever you can to keep the airspace clear, understood? And whatever you do- stay safe."_

_"Right."_

And then, as soon as he'd come, he was gone.

And she was left staring at the once again blank monitors. She found it harder and harder to think, the thoughts pounding through her skull with every beat of her heart. Three hours. Maybe- mabye Tony wasn't coming back... Maybe he COULDN'T... Maybe he was dead.

She snapped upright, biting her lip until she tasted blood. Focus. Focus. Four drones destroyed. But who knew how many more these sick bastards had? Who knew- their base could be anywhere, they could be doing anything...

_"How're you holding up, kid?"_ Rhode's voice crackled across the comm.

_"Fine."_ she lied. She was anything BUT fine. But she was better off than Tony...

_"Good. You're doing great, kid, just keep the airspace clear..."_

_"Where is it?"_

Rhodes laused, obviously confused. _"Where's what?"_

_"These assholes have to be launching these drones from somewhere, They have to have a hangar, someplace to keep them..."_

Rhodes sighed. _"We're working on it, kid. Hang in there."_

_"Right." _

And the line went back to static. She forced her mind off of Tony, off of Pepper, who had no doubt screamed her throat raw from where she was downstairs, stuck in the suit. Keep everyone safe. Keep everyone alive. Wait for Rhodes to kill the terrorists before they killed her.

She found herself wondering, though, and she let her mind wander, grateful for the distraction from thoughts of Tony. How the hell did terrorists manage to get a base and store drones? More importantly, how the hell did the governement not know where the hel, the base was? Homeland security had to have something on these bastards, and even if they didn't, the drones were being controlled from somewhere. Probably by a radio transmitter, and even then, radio signals could be tracked...

She stared. Why hadn't she through of this earlier? It made sense- a radio signal could be tracked to its exact locatiom of origin. The government was so busy freaking out about possible drone strikes, they couldn't see the obvious...

The screen to her left started flashing red, and she stared. Another drone. She smiled, for once, hopeful. "Disable and down. I repeat, disable and down. Do not destroy."

She watched as, onscreen, numerous targets appeared on the drone. She chose her best bet for a non-lethal shot and watched the Mark VI fired, grinning as the drone lost altitude...

It'd crashed a few blocks from here. She could make it. There was hope.

She grinned. "Jarvis- keep the airspace clear. Destroy anything but Rhodes."

And she was gone, running towards the elevator. She had a drone to visit.

* * *

He was sweating. That was the understatement if the year, he realized. Sweat was pouring down his face as he moved, using the enhanced strength the suit provided to lift flaming beams and shift inhuman amounts of wreckage.

The suit was temperature controlled, of course, but there were certain variables he hadn't accounted for... Like the heat of a raging, jet fuel filled blaze transferring and accumulating onto the metal of his suit.

He and the Hulk, since radiation was apparently some sort of uber-barrier between extreme temperatures, were working to clear a path through the hellish inferno, so the others to escort out trapped civilians.

They'd been at it for hours, now, and he'd reached the point of collapse a few minutes ago. The heat was driving him mad, scorching him, making his blood literally BOIL... But then he'd remember the faces of the victims, the ones holed up in the buildings, that the others were working with. Those people were trapped, and they'd die if he didn't do this. But that wasn't the thought that really helped him push through the hell. It was the thought of the girls at home- his girls, Pepper and Amy.

What if they were trapped in this inferno of a hell?

That one, incredibly implausible hypothetical situation was what kept him going.

* * *

She ducked to the left, heading down the alley quietly. It'd landed six blocks away- only six. The streets were deserted, had been, since the echoing explosions earlier. She hurried down the sidewalk, annoyed by how heavy her boots were. If she had the entire suit, she wouldn't have to bear as much weight...

But she ignored the difficulty the moving, focusing on getting to the location where the downed drone was. She caught sight of it and her breath hitched for a moment- it was lying, singed and dented, on the ground. This was an old district, on a not-so-nice part of town, but thankfully, the apartment the drone rested in front of was condemned.

Wordlessly, she strode over to it, falling to her knees beside it and withdrawing the screwdriver, prying off the first panel and staring at the tangle of wires. And explosives. Not good.

"Highlight anything emitting or receiving radio waves." she muttered. instantly the screen highlighted various panels.

She got to work, prying the dented metal away. Monutes ticked by, one, five... She tried not to let her eyes wander back to the explosives. Who knew when they'd go off? Time was a finite resource here, and she forced the screwdriver's head beneath another panel, prying it upwards.

She caught a glance of a familiar circuit and smiled. The transmitter. Finally. She continued to pry at the panel, before she seized the transmitter calmly, pulling it loose after cutting the wires.

The explosives started blinking. Wait, why the hell were they blinking!?

She reacted. Sure, the rocket boots weren't made for sustained flight, but she was only thinking about getting AWAY from the blinking...

She punched the thrusters and flew a good twenty feet off the ground, before the deafening blast and fire ball erupted below her.

The force of the blast sent her flying, and for a moment she lost all perception of which direction she was going, until her back was scraping against something, and she was still.

She gasped, trying to catch her breath, before she clawed at the helmet, tearing it off and throwing it to the side, sitting bolt upright and catching her breath, just trying to breathe.

She was on the roof. Somehow, she'd been thrown onto the cement roof. She sat, panting. She'd been lucky. The radio reciever was still in her hand, and she quietly opened the pannel on her ionizing glove, carefully attaching the wires and reactivating the transmitter.

She could feel something trickling down her cheek, and realized it was blood. But that could wait.

She seized her helmet from where she'd discarded it, pulling it back on and fumbling to reconnect it with the battery, waiting for it to come back online.

A moment later, Rhode's voice crackled over the comm. "What the hell just happened!?"

"Jarvis, trace the radio signal I'm receiving." she muttered.

_"Amy! What the fuck happened!?"_

_"You know the coordinates of the launch point yet?"_ she asked idly.

_"That doesn't matter. Are you alright? Is anybody hurt?"_ Rhode's voice took on a more concerned tone, the anger fading from his tone.

_"Yeah. Everyone's fine. I got some intel for you off the drone. Jarvis is transmitting you their coordinates."_

There was stunned silence on the other end for a moment, and she grew tird of waiting for Rhodes to respond.

_"You're welcome. Have fun blowing them up."_ she said, slightly annoyed he couldn't even _say _anything.

_"I... right. Right. You sure you're alright, kid?"_

She smiled despite the fact she was going to be sore as hell in the morning. _"I'm fine, Rhodes. Everybody's fine."_


	14. Parental Concern

**I got it. I finally got it. And it's been FOREVER, I know, but i had a lot of summer assignments to catch up on. Anyways, this chapter isn't so much Amy, rather, it's Tony-centric with a lot of parental worry and freaking out. Please read and review!**

She laid on the roof for what must've been a good five minutes, simply staring up at the sky and gathering the strength ti move. She finally got to her feet, feeling incredibly heavy. The battery on her makeshift suit had died, she found, and it took her an exhausting hour with no help from the motor to clunk back to the tower.

She stumbled to the elevator, then, feeling incredibly thirsty. "Jarvis. Let Pepper out of the suit. Threat averted." she managed to get out.

Jarvis didn't answer, of course- his speech capabilities in the tower had been destroyed, but she knew he'd obey the command anyways.

She staggered over to the couch, falling heavily onto it. Grease and oil were smeared onto her, she was covered in sweat from the long walk home, and the metal she wore was practically dragging her to to floor. But she didn't have a screwdriver. And there was no way she was getting up to get one. So instead she let her head loll back, ripping off the helmet, and fell into an uncomfortable sleep.

* * *

His battery was dying. He'd elected to fly to New York instead of in the helicarrier with everyone else, and he stared. Smoke rose from several locations, and the city that never slept was eerily quiet.

"Guys. Either somebody legalized weed or something's going on here." he spoke into his comm, tone light but serious. Amy, Pepper...

"Unfortunately, you left before we could brief you on the situation, Stark." Fury replied, his voice taking on an annoyed tone.

"Situation? What situation? We just took care of the situation!" he felt the dread welling up within him. He'd just saved Boston, for crying out loud, there had been... there couldn't be a situation in New York.

"There have been attempted drone strikes for the past three hours."

The team listened intently from where they'd been briefed on the quinjet for any sign, any sound from Tony that he was listening.

They heard the familiar click of his comm go on.

"Amy? Amy, this is the emergency frequency... I know you're listening, kid. Respond."

The static silence struck them all dumb for a moment. Steve paled, still remembering the air raid sirens that'd blared throughout his teenaged years, warning people to get in their homes and put up their blackout curtains, the similar silence that followed.

"Amy. Answer me." Tony tried again, a hint of anxiety creeping into his voice. This was a joke, he convinced himself, she was just messing around... "Jarvis? What's going on..."

More silence. It was like a blow to the head. If Jarvis wasn't responding... The knowledge hit everyone like a brick.

"Stark." Fury began. "Your main priority is-"

"Fuck you and your priorities!" Tony's voice rippled across the radio waves with surprising clarity and venom, stunning Fury into silence. Again, they were all listening to the silence, every one of the avengers hoping the hear Amy's voice crackle across the line. There was nothing.

"Pepper, Amy... Just hang on, alright?"

And he stopped responding to their hails.

Thor stood, seizing Mjölnir and starting to spin the hammer. "Open the Hangar doors!" his voice boomed through the small space that was the helicarrier, glaring intensely at the doors.

And he was gone.

* * *

Tony landed on the ground, outside the tower. He threw the glass doors open, racing into the basement and punching in the code to the lab. The door swung open. That'd been the plan, the contingency he'd told Amy about.

"Pepper?Amy?" his voice seemed to echo anxiously. It was dark in here, so dark, like no one was present. But he could hear one sound- sobbing.

"Jarvis, get the lights on in here!" he ordered.

Jarvis said nothing in reply, but a moment later the lights flicked on.

Pepper was curled up on the floor, in front of an open suit, sobbing.

"Pepper!"

"Tony!" she looked up at him with bloodshot, teary eyes and grabbed him, embracing him tightly. He allowed his mask to slide back so he was staring at her face to face, anxiously scanning her for any wounds or injuries. He found none.

"Oh my god..." Pepper's hand flew to her mouth, shocked, as she cried harder, taking in the scratches and scorches on his suit. He must've looked like hell.

"Nononono, don't cry! It's me, Pep, I'm alright, I'm alive, see?" he was desperate to calm her, then.

"I...I thought... you were dead." Pepper hiccuped.

"Shhh. I'm here, Pep, that's all you need to worry about, okay? I'm here and I'm okay."

Pepper sniffed, wiping her nose calmly and nodding. "Right. Okay, right." she nodded, gathering her composure. "I... you were gone... and... the drone strikes, and Amy locked me in the suit and left... I figured you were both dead."

Tony's eyes widened. "Amy what?"

Pepper grew slightly frantic again, realizing he didn't know.

"I... she just... She put the suit in defensive mode and locked me in it, and Jarvis stopped talking and when my optics came online... she was gone. I thought she'd found her way to SHEILD and was trying to help..."

"No. God dammit no!" Tony vaulted over a workbench, all prior fatigue forgotten. There had been drone strikes, Pepper had said...

He raced over to the control panel, finding the wires Amy had severed and seizing several gum wrappers from the trash, macguyvering them back together.

"Jarvis! Jarvis, what the hell happened!?" he demanded.

The wires sparked slightly, but a moment later the posh british accent came from the speakers.

"Mistress Amy disabled speech capabilities and proceeded to arm herself with several prototypes before setting out to gather intel from drones. She sustained moderate damage but was ultimately successful in relaying significant intel to Colonel Rhodes."

Tony stared. She'd what? _Moderate_ damage!? What the hell did that even mean!? His frantic mind was too scattered to piece it together right now.

"Where is she? Where the hell is she!?" he was going into overdrive now, suddenly frantic at the notion that she could be anywhere, and he wasn't there to help her...

"She is currently residing on the leather couch in the penthouse, asleep." Jarvis informed him calmly.

Tony had bounded out of the room before Jarvis had finished his sentence, tearing onto the staircase and possibly flying about ten stories or so until he reached the top story, landing recklessly and stumbling into the penthouse. He ignored the general state of disarray everything was in, instead electing to vault over the breakfast bar and race into the living room...

He felt the air leave his lungs when he saw her.

There was an old helmet of his cast to the side, a battery and some wiring scattered on the floor. She was outfitted in a makeshift iron man suit, the rocket boot prototypes she'd been working on contrasting with the ionizing glove. A discarded chest plate was fit on, duct tape fixing the fact it didn't fasten correctly, and a prototype of Steve's shield was thrown recklessly of the coffee table.

Both he could've cared less about the mess. He scrambled over to the side of the couch, staring anxiously at her face.

He hesitated for a second before his metal-encased fingers touched her shoulder lightly.

She stirred lightly, and it was the most beautiful thing he'd seen in awhile.

The elevator doors swung open a moment later and Pepper, who hadn't been able to fly the forty stories upstairs, stumbled out, looking just as frantic and disheveled as he had moments ago.

Her eyes immediately fell on Tony kneeling beside the couch and she stared, frantic.

"Is she...?"

"She's okay." Tony said, breaking into a relieved grin. Pepper's hand flew to her mouth again, and she sagged into a chair, crying from relief.

"I know, Pep. I know." Tony wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close to him. He'd felt it too- the sharp panic, the insurmountable fear he'd lost her...

"She's okay, Pepper. She's okay."


	15. Intense Discussion

**Next chapter. This has a lot of intense dialogue between Tony and Fury, and well... REVIEW! It's hard to update with school, and you guys inspire me!**

"Goddammit, do NOT make me have them land the helicarrier! I'll do it!" Fury yelled, sounding like a frustrated parent threatening to pull over.

"Is it that hard to land on the roof balcony thing of Avenger's Tower?" Clint asked, glaring at him.

"Our PRIORITIES are-"

"Taken care of. You said war machine had it under control. That means our priority is Tony." Natasha said firmly, crossing her arms defiantly. "Now do we need to hijack this thing, or will you land there?"

The ex-assassins glared at him with such ferocity, and Fury knew from experience they were serious. Steve glared at him as, well, a war-hardened glare of a man who wouldn't compromise.

Bruce was leaning against the wall in the corner of the helicarrier, arms crossed, and he could feel his gaze boring into him as well. The last thing he wanted was Bruce to hulk out in the helicarrier, AGAIN, and he sighed.

"Fine. Land on Avenger's tower."

BREAKLINE

The day seemed to converge as the helicarrier landed outside on the roof landing strip of Avengers Tower. They cut the engines, and the Avengers filed out, weapons at the ready.

They rushed into the living room to find Tony on the couch, arms around a sobbing Pepper.

"Woah woah woah!" Tony put his hands up. "It's okay, guys- everyone's okay."

Steve let a relieved smile cross his face, and Tony pulled Pepper into a quick hug. "The gang's all here." he informed them, looking rather proud that his wife and daughter were okay.

Bruce, too, allowed a relieved smile to cross his face. Thank god there was a happy ending.

Fury walked in, looking around the room, slightly disgusted at the mess. His eyes fell on Amy.

"What the hell did she do?" he demanded.

Bruce frowned and was instantly striding over to her, doctoring instincts kicking in.

Tony sighed. "I have no idea. Jarvis told me she managed to grab some weapons and get intel off a downed drone..."

"She what?" Fury demanded, looking from Stark back to the child.

"Looks like she got caught in an explosion." Bruce speculated, noting the burn marks on her armor and the scuffs in the paint.

"Jarvis?" Tony sat bolt upright, a concerned look crossing his face.

"She was indeed caught in an explosion, Sir. Fortunately, she managed to get a distance away and the shield prototype she held protected her from the majority of the blast. My scans found no significant injuries, so I did not inform you."

"Yeah, well next time anything involving explosions happens, tell me." Tony said, a clear edge in his voice.

"So... she's alright?" Natasha asked.

Bruce looked up from where he was examining her. "A few scrapes and bruises, but yeah, she's alright."

Clint whistled. "Damn. That kid's more of a badass than you, Stark."

Thor smiled, striding into the kitchen and opening the cupboard.

"Thor! What are you doing?" Bruce asked. The man had a healthy amount of concern when it came to Thor and kitchen appliances, ever since the man had somehow thought the toaster was some form of receptacle for utensils.

"I am preparing a celebratory feast!" Thor said happily, opening the cupboard and removing the box of pop tarts.

"Well alrighty then." Tony said, grinning. Everybody was alive, New York was still in one piece, and Thor was making them dinner. A crappy dinner of Poptarts, sure, but who was he to complain? He was a pretty bad cook anyways.

Fury sighed, sagging into an armchair and resting his head in his hands for a moment, exhausted. He was getting too old for this shit.

Tony looked over at him sympathetically. "One of those days, boss? I can fix it. Jarvis, get this man some liquor."

"Of course, Sir."

Fury grumbled something that sounded decidedly like profanity, but accepted the glass of whiskey the little droid puttered over with all the same, downing it in a few gulps. He turned his one good eye to Tony, looking at the man calmly.

"You realize there's gonna be a shitton of paper work to fill out, don't you?"

Tony shrugged. "There always is.". And it was true, Whenever the Avengers went into action, there was always a truckload of paperwork that followed.

Tony noticed Fury was studying Amy for a good minute, and his brows furrowed. That was creepy, Nick Fury watching his daughter sleep.

Fury sighed again. "You realize SHEILD is going to give me hell for having a child operative?"

Everyone gawked for a moment.

Pepper was the first to find her voice, and even then, all she could stutter out was an affronted, "Excuse me?"

Fury gazed at her calmly. "She acted in SHEILD's interests today, using technology that only SHEILD and the US military have harnessed before and aiding an abetting in the US's interests. That qualifies her as an operative, wether she was on the books or not."

"No. There is no way in HELL she is joining SHEILD." Tony spat, face twisting downwards into a snarl.

Clint and Natasha were exchanging glances, while Steve's mouth was set in a hard line, and Thor, too, looked troubled from where he'd been toasting poptarts.

"Then what do you consider her participation in today's events, Stark?" Fury asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Assistance. It was assistance. God knows you needed it, since you couldn't even handle two crises at once." Tony spat, giving Fury a glare no one had even seen before.

"I received intelligence from the Department of Homeland Security. We don't have specifics on how she did it, but she managed ti somehow obtain coordinates of the Drone launch point and give them to Colonel Rhodes. That's the only reason why we were able to get a handle on the situation. What does that tell you?" Fury said, trying to outline it in simple terms, black and white.

"It tells me you have shitty operatives." Tony growled. There was a dangerous flash in Fury's eyes at the statement, but Tony kept speaking, regardless. "You're telling me that not one adult operative in the area had the brains or balls to do what she did- it isn't hard, Fury! She tracked a radio frequency! That's it. Nothing remarkable, nothing shockingly heroic, she saw a chance to save lives and she took it. That doesn't mean she's your new guinea pig."

Natasha was watching the argument with a look of disgust on her face. "You can't be serious, Fury. She's just a kid..."

"And how old were you when you started training?" Fury asked.

Natasha frowned. That was a low blow.

"I was coerced into training by a corrupt system. Sort of like what you're trying to do now. Same with Clint."

Clint nodded, arms crossed, studying Fury intensely with a look that clearly said Fury was stepping over the line here.

"What are your intentions? Train her, make her some kind of child prodigy?" Steve asked calmly. Still, there was an edge to his voice and a hard look in their eyes nobody had really seen before.

"She's already demonstrated she's a child prodigy. With enhanced training, she could hone her abilities..."

"And then what?" Steve asked, the glare evident on his face. "What happens when training isn't enough for you anymore? Send her into the field- make her a child soldier? I saw a lot of good men die in the war. Some of them were under 18, had lied about their age- gave up everything to fight. Poor kids had no idea what they were signing on for, were inexperienced. I saw most of them get cut down. Dead. Shipped home. If you think there's any way I'll allow that to happen, you're dead wrong."

"She'd be a juvenile operative..." Fury said calmly. "A lot like you were, Romanov."

Natasha glared. "That was an entirely different situation. I'd received prior training, didn't have a family..."

"You consider this a family?" Fury asked, looking around at the band of misfits and vigilantes he'd come to know as the Avengers.

Bruce stalked out of the room like a cat with its fur standing on end, knowing he wasn't going to be able to remain in the room without hulking out.

"Hell yes it is. It isn't perfect, sure, but it's a hell of a lot better than what you're planning to do to her." Clint piped up.

Tony was seething. "I am her father, and I said no!"

"I understand that. But she has potential, Tony. When you look at the facts of what she's done today, what do you expect me to feel?"

"Gratitude! Gratitude that she stepped up and helped out when she saw people were in danger! Not... not this!" Tony said, gesturing wildly, referring to the entire conversation they'd been having.

Amy's eyelids fluttered from where she'd been lying. She'd woken up near the beginning of the conversation, but had feigned sleep, wanting to understand what was going on. But now she realized she'd heard enough, resisting the urge to shudder at the thought if being taken from Tony. Maybe if they knew she was awake, they'd quit arguing.

"Dad?" she asked quietly.

Tony was instantly on his feet, striding over to her. "Are you alright?"

She nodded. " 'M tired." she admitted quietly.

She swung her legs over the side of the couch, attempting to stand and falling like a led weight to the ground with a crash. She'd forgotten how heavy the armor was. Maybe she wasn't as awake as she thought.

"Shit." Tony muttered, striding over to him. "You hit your head or anything?"

"Nope. I'm fine." she reassured him, giving him a lopsided smile. "Saved New York for you."

Tony nodded absentmindedly, looking over her armor carefully. "Jarvis, get me a screwdriver." he ordered, starting to work on loosening the nuts and bolts keeping her in this metal prison.

"She needs to debrief. SHEILD needs a detailed report on this." Fury said calmly.

"I know." Tony said, frustrated. He snatched the screwdriver from the little droid that puttered over, working on unfastening her armor. "You know what, screw it. She can't debrief today. I'll have her fill out a report on it tomorrow."

"I'd prefer to do it now, Stark."

"Does she look like she's in any condition to debrief!?" Tony demanded, frustrated. Amy had a half-asleep look on her face, and was covered in scratches and bruises.

Her right ionizing glove clattered to the floor with a clang, and she flexed her fingers, glad to be free of the torturous weight.

Fury's lips pressed together in a firm line, as though he were contemplating what to do next.

"I bid you farewell, Fury." Thor said calmly, a cold note in his voice. The way he stood and his icy glare clearly indicated he was asking Fury to leave.

Wordlessly, Fury turned on heel to go, leaving a much less agitated Tony in his wake.

There was a thick layer of scratches and ash on the shield prototype, and Clint whistled. "Damn. You certainly don't do things halfway, do you kid?"

Amy gave him a wane smile. "Didn't expect it to explode." was all she muttered. By this point, Tony had freed her other arm and was working on removing the chest plate.

"You're sure you aren't hurt?" Steve asked, sounding concerned.

"Nope. I'm good. Wanna take a shower, though. And sleep for a week."

Steve nodded, but he didn't look convinced. Tony calmly pulled the rocket boots from her feet, and she stood from the heap of screws and metal, feeling a lot lighter.

"See you in a few days." she muttered. They heard the shower turn on a few minutes after she disappeared into her room. It didn't stop for an hour.

Finally, once she was sure she'd adequately scrubbed all the ash and grime from her body, and probably because she was to tired she was leaning against the shower wall, she stumbled out, wrapped herself in a towel, managed to pull on a T-shirt she'd found in her closet- a Hulk one, ironically, and some sweatpants, before falling into bed and letting the black oblivion that was sleep pull her under.

Still, she woke up every hour or so from nightmares of Nick Fury dragging her, kicking and screaming, away from Tony.


	16. More Rewarding than you'd Think

Even though she was exhausted, she couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes in the hopes of dreaming, she swore she'd see a flash of light and start awake.

She fell into a state of numbness- still aware of everything around her but too afraid to sleep. She might've been like that for hours or minutes. She wasn't sure.

The next thing she knew, she woke up at 2 AM. That was pretty normal, considering she'd fallen asleep sometime in the early evening.

What wasn't normal, however, was the fact that she'd been kicking and screaming only moments ago, screaming bloody murder as SHEILD Agents dragged her away from Tony. And her father had been smiling. Like he was happy she was being taken off his hands...

It was a dream, she reminded herself- just a dream. And Tony wasn't in the room to calm her down, meaning it must've been silent. He always came running when she screamed. She fe;t bad about that, in retrospect- it probably made it rea;;y hard for him to have any "lovey" time with Pepper.

But she couldn't help the fact the nightmares came, or the fact that, even though she went through hell in the dreams, it all seemed so much better- safer, really.

Still, though, it smelled like Tide Laundry detergent and lavender fabric softener (Pepper's preference), reassuring her that she was still in Avenger's tower.

That didn't stop her from padding down the hall, however, and whispering for Jarvis to quietly open the door. Tony was asleep, arm slung protectively over Pepper. Good. That was good. She WAS still here, Tony was here. But she couldn't help hearing the small voice in the back of her head wondering how much longer she'd have before SHEILD came.

There was no way she was going to get back to sleep. That left her two options- stand here in the dark, watching Tony sleep like a creeper, or wander downstairs and find something to tinker with. Her fingertips were itching with nervous energy anyways, she might as well be productive.

And so she padded away from the peaceful scene before her, electing to stumble down through the darkness.

* * *

It was 2 AM, and Clint was awake. Nat was asleep. The assassin hadn't even attempted to get him to go to bed. After every mission, every time- while his friends slept the sleep of the just, he stayed up as late as possible, trying to put off sleeping and the endless nightmares that entailed- the haunted faces of everyone he couldn't save.

Which was why Clint Barton found himself sitting on the couch of his apparent, a beer that was no longer cold in hand, watching an infomercial for the Shark Steam Cleaner.

He took another sip of beer, succeeding in avoiding the idea that at some point and time he would have to sleep. He instead set the beer on the stylish black wood end table beside the leather couch, watching as the salesman cracked corny jokes and cleaned things.

"Look at that shine!" he exclaimed, sarcastically, at the same time the salesman did. Damn, this was getting boring. He'd seen this infomercial, what, seven times in a row now? It was getting boring.

It was then he heard the scuffing sound from the stairwell- the stairs let off onto each floor.

It was unexpected, surely, but instinct kicked in. He tore open the drawer of the end table, pulling out his glock and training it on the door. (Goddamit, Phil, he did NOT have PTSD! Guns were like band aids- they were useful and good to have around.) Especially at moments like this.

"You have three seconds to show yourself." he growled, eyes narrowed.

"Dammit..." he recognized Amy's voice and lowered the gun, scrutinizing her as she stepped into the room.

"What are you doing up?" Clint asked, quietly replacing the glock in his drawer and closing it.

She shrugged "Couldn't sleep- was gonna go tinker with something."

Clint nodded, expecting her to leave. Instead, she stepped inside, finding a place on the couch beside him.

Her lips quirked into a grin at what he was watching- it'd changed to an infomercial for the Threeway Poncho.

Clint sighed- damn, this was embarrassing. What kind of agent was he, he wondered, to dread sleeping enough that he was up at 2 AM with a gun watching middle aged women chatter on about how they loved their stylish poncho?

He sighed, picking up his beer again and taking a swig.

He noticed Amy watching him, then.

"What?" he asked, slightly grumpy. He hadn't slept in a day and had worked his ass off to help in Boston- he had a right to be.

Amy shrugged, eying the beer in his hand. "I could use some of that." she muttered.

Clint laughed- it felt like forever since he'd laughed, but really, Amy had balls.

"Really, kid? You seriously think I'm gonna give you alcohol?"

Amy shrugged. "Why not? I'm old enough to save New York but not old enough for some beer?"

Clint frowned. She had a point. How old was she again? Twelve, thirteen, maybe? He'd been about her age when he'd had his first drink. Besides, Tony had, what, a bottle of Scotch a day? He probably wouldn't mind. Best to let her learn about alcohol now rather than later.

"Screw it. Here." he handed her the bottle, and for a moment she looked surprised before putting it to her lips and taking a swallow.

Clint laughed at the expression on her face as she took her first sip, watching her crinkle her nose in disgust.

She'd thought alcohol would taste good, sweet- but it was bitter and burned her throat, and she started to cough.

She shot Clint a scathing glare as she tried to swallow the liquid fire stuck in her throat, waiting for the moment when she'd be able to speak again and snap at him.

Still, she couldn't think of anything to say, and she wordlessly handed the beer back to him. Even though she'd gotten a few hours of sleep, she still felt exhausted.

Clint noticed how down she looked. "Hey. Don't sweat it- you have plenty of time to learn to drink." he said calmly.

She nodded, but she didn't meet his eyes.

Clint sighed. "Look, I'm not a mind reader. You're going to have to tell me what you're thinking.

Amy hesitantly looked up. "How long do I have?" she asked finally.

"How long until what?" Clint asked, confused.

She didn't even want to say it, because saying it would be acknowledging it was real. But she did.

"How long until SHEILD takes me away?" she asked quietly.

Clint's inquisitive gaze transformed into one of horror in an instant. "Shit. How much of the conversation did you hear?"

He was hoping the kid had missed the majority of it, but that wasn't likely, as she was up at 2 AM wondering how long she had left with them.

"Pretty much all of it." Amy muttered, once again studying the floor.

Clint sighed. How the hell did he approach this situation? He could snap a man's neck in seconds, hit a target mortally from fifty yards with a bow, break a man's jaw with a single pistol-whip. But yet he had no idea to comfort a child.

He sighed, jaw clenching. Damn. Damn Fury, and SHEILD for putting him in this position. He noticed Amy was digging her nails into her palms. She was taking his silence as an answer. And not a good one. He had to say something.

"They aren't going to." he said simply.

Amy looked up at him, surprised. "But Thor said- they took all of Jane's stuff once. There the government. They do what they want." she clearly wasn't reassured.

"If SHEILD knows what's good for itself, they won't. if they do- Nat and I will quit, for one thing. And Tony will go batshit insane and Steve will go with him to bust you out while Nat and I run interference. Oh, and Bruce will be really pissed and hulk out and go on a rampage and Thor just might bring in an army from Asgard to kick Fury's ass. And the nation will have a team of highly skilled operatives gone rogue. So don't get too concerned about Fury, cause it isn't going to happen."

He smiled slightly at the look of awe on the girl's face. Clearly she hadn't expected that for an answer.

He chuckled. "What? You seriously thought we'd let them have you? Hell, you're the only sane person in the tower when Pepper isn't here. Not to mention you managed to keep Thor occupied with the 'phone of stark' for like six hours with angry birds. He normally just yells at the TV and tries to understand google. So yeah, you're pretty important, kid. We don't plan on letting you go anytime soon."

Amy nodded dumbly, a look of relief crossing her face at the knowledge. She'd spent hours in hell, wondering how much longer she had before she was torn away from another family. But now- now everything was okay.

She looked as though she was slouching, but in reality she was sagging in relief against the couch. Clint saw the expression of relief cross her features, allowing him to see the exhaustion she'd hid so well.

They sat in a comfortable silence like that for a half an hour or so, simply watching the infomercials. He watched her blink for rapidly, and try her hardest to stay awake. But even the strongest people couldn't win the battle against sleep.

She ended up sprawled in his lap, then, sleeping soundly and succeeding in trapping him on the couch. Not that he really minded.

He found himself actually smiling as he brushed a stray lock of hair from her face, revealing the peaceful expression of a child. It was a welcome escape from the dark thoughts that normally thundered around in his head.

Comforting a child was a lot more rewarding than you'd think.


End file.
